Angels & Demons
by sailor's delight
Summary: HIATUS B/A. Buffy & crew go to LA after defeating The First in "Chosen" where Angel uses his connections at Wolfram & Hart to help her out. But with Wolfram & Hart there's always a catch...
1. Where Are You Going

**A/N: So this has been sitting on my computer for about a year now...I've been mulling over the idea of actually posting it. It takes place immediately after "Chosen". The general plan is to stick to the ****_Angel _****season 5 storyline with added Scooby Gang, but I thought I would post the first 2 intro chapters and get some reviews before I start tackling the next few chapters to see if you guys actually like this. So please read, enjoy and review!**

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**Where Are You Going**

_**Where are you going, where do you go,**_

_**Are you looking for answers to questions under the stars?**_

_**If along the way you are growing weary, you can rest with me**_

_**Until a brighter day and you're okay**_

_**I am no superman and I have no answers for you**_

_**I am no hero, oh that's for sure**_

_**But I do know one thing is where you are**_

_**Is where I belong**_

_**I do know where you go**_

_**Is where I want to be**_

**-Dave Matthews Band**

The Hyperion Hotel was quiet for a change, given recent events in LA. The only light on was in one of the second floor suites where stacks of boxes took up the majority of the floor space. In the dim light one could see the outline of a large figure sitting on the floor by one of the large bookcases, stacks of books and boxes surrounding him as he sorted through the collection of volumes.

Angel flipped through the pages of a particularly beat up novel, deciding whether or not he was really going to ever read it again. After a moment he tossed it in the discard pile. Latin was a dead language anyway. There was a muffled noise that came from somewhere in the vast hotel causing the vampire with a soul to pause in his sorting and packing and to focus his trained ears on the noise. He could sense that he was not alone in the hotel. He could smell the warm blood coursing though human veins. Hear the soft beating of a heart. Multiple hearts.

Angel furrowed his brow in confusion. Wes, Fred, Gunn, and Lorne had left hours ago. He was thinking that someone had come back to pick up something they forgot when a familiar tingling in Angel's gut threw him off momentarily. No, that was impossible. She was in Sunnydale, in quite possibly a fight to the death with the First. But then the news reports that evening came rushing back to him. _Giant meteor hits Sunnydale, California. Massive sinkhole wipes a small Southern California town off the map._ He had chuckled when he heard them, knowing she had won. If only CNN knew the truth.

When that tingling feeling Angel got started growing and evolved into something new, he began to smell it. The raw power that he knew only came from a slayer was radiating from somewhere downstairs, stronger than Angel had ever felt it. Like there were dozens of them.

In the blink of an eye Angel stood up, crossed the bedroom, and swung open the door only to be greeted by the last person he was expecting to see that night.

"Hey," Buffy breathed, her tiny fist raised as if she was about to knock.

Angel stood there, taking her in, before wrapping both arms around her in a huge hug, probably crushing her in the process. "Buffy, thank God," he whispered into her hair. He felt her relax into his embrace and then suddenly winced and took in a sharp breath. Angel quickly let her go and glanced her over for injuries and spotted the blood stain on her abdomen. He started to usher her inside the room and said, "Come on, let me put something on that."

But Buffy stood her ground and said, "No, Angel, this is the least of my worries, there are girls downstairs that need more attention."

"Girls?" Angel asked in confusion.

Buffy smirked and said, "Slayers. Lots of them."

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"So that's when I asked Willow to pull of the mother of all spells and to turn every potential slayer into a slayer. So that we could all fight and win this thing," Buffy explained to Angel as they descended the stairs into the lobby.

Angel paused on the last step as he took in the sight before him. Dozens of girls, some more beat up than others were standing around. A few that looked like they were in bad shape were lying on the round sofa in the middle, while Willow and Dawn tended them best they could. Faith was with a tall African American man admiring Angel's weapon cabinet, and Xander was talking with Giles and a short lanky blonde guy that Angel didn't know. "And it worked," Angel concluded as he looked around the lobby.

"Oh yeah," Buffy agreed as she looked around as well.

Faith, being the closest to where Buffy and Angel stood turned to look at them when she heard them talking. "Hey big guy," she said, walking over with a smile on her face. "Heard you stopped by with a little somethin' that helped us out majorly."

"Yeah, well, had to help any way I could," he said, not really sure what to say to her. The amulet Angel gave Buffy would bring up talks about Spike, and now was definitely not the time to talk about his grandchilde, or his absence, with Buffy. "So, let's get these girls patched up and somewhere comfortable. There plenty of rooms that they can sleep in," Angel said a little louder, attempting to get everyone's attention.

Dawn looked over at him and flashed a huge smile. "Angel!" she said running over and giving him and big hug.

Angel was momentarily stunned but gave a little chuckle and said, "Hey Dawn. You think you could get the first aid kits? They're behind the reception counter." She nodded and went off in search of the kits. Willow gave Angel a kind smile to greet him, while Giles and Xander just nodded at him in their own greeting. "Xander, could you run out to the grocery store and stock up on some food? The kitchen's pretty empty," Angel asked Xander, who he just noticed was wearing an eye patch. Boy he really had some catching up to do.

Xander started at Angel for a moment, mulling the idea over in his head. Angel sighed and said, "Take my credit card," digging his wallet out of his pocket and tossing a card to Xander.

Xander smiled and said, "Thanks," before grabbing the boy with blonde hair and dragging him along and out the door. Before they disappeared into the night air Angel quietly heard the boy ask in his high pitched voice, "So that's Angel? Well isn't he…studly." To which Xander replied, "Shut it, Andrew."

Angel stared at the door the two just exited, a puzzled look on his face as Buffy said, "Alright, let's get moving, you all need some rest."

The lobby buzzed with activity for the next hour or so as they all dug through first aid kits and slowly but surely everyone was patched up and settled in a room for the night where they got some much needed rest.

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Later that night, Buffy crept down the silent hallway as quietly as she could before stopping in front of one of the doors. She stared at it for a moment, about to knock when she paused. What was she doing here? What made her think that her vampire ex-boyfriend wanted to talk in the middle of the night? She was about to turn around and head back to her room when Angel's door opened.

"You going to stand there all night?" he asked, a little humor in his voice.

"Well, I had nothing better to do," she replied, slightly embarrassed that he had caught her.

He smirked and said, "Come on in," as he moved aside, allowing her to enter. "So, how are you?" he asked, a little unsure of what to say to her.

She smiled a little and said, "Well you know, I just cratered a town, not something a lot of people get to say. So that's pretty cool…" she trailed off. Buffy hated that there was this awkwardness between them. There was just so much that needed to be said and she had no idea where to start. Angel gave a little chuckle at her answer and watched her closely as she looked around the room and said, "Nice place." She then spotted the boxes he was packing and all of the books and clothes strewn about. "But you're not staying…"

Angel scratched the back of his neck while trying to figure out how to tell her about Wolfram and Hart. "Yeah, I guess we, uh, have some catching up to do," he said finally.

Buffy just looked at him and said, "We really do."

So he told her everything. From Darla and Drusilla and how he went a little crazy and fired all of his friends to Cordy getting sucked into Pylea and fleeing to Sri Lanka after he found out Buffy was dead. He told her about how Darla showed up pregnant and she staked herself to bring Connor into the world. He told her all about Connor and how he got taken away into a hell dimension and when he came back. He told her that he thought he had feelings for Cordelia and that he was trapped at the bottom of the ocean for the summer while Cordy was made into a higher being. Buffy couldn't help but give a little snort at that, even though she was trying to be supportive for Angel. He told her about the Beast, and Angelus, and Cordelia being evil, to which Buffy grasped his hand and told him how sorry she was, and she really meant it. He then told her about Jasmine and then the deal that he made with Wolfram and Hart which made everyone forget about Connor but gave him a real childhood and family.

She sat there for a few moments in silence, processing everything that he had just told her. "Wolfram and Hart? Angel, do you even know anything about running a law firm?"

Angel couldn't help but laugh at that. After everything he had just told her and all she could think about was if he knew how to run a law firm. "I'll figure it out," he said with a smirk.

She smiled at that and then said, "So I guess it's my turn." Buffy launched into her story about the potential slayers arriving at her doorstep, Andrew being a "guestage" as he liked to call it, Robin Wood and how his mother was a slayer, Xander getting his eye poked out by an evil preacher, and finally the touchy subject of Spike.

Angel visibly tensed and shifted when she got to Spike and how he sacrificed himself down in the hellmouth. Buffy sighed and grasped Angel's hand again. "He really did love me," she said softly. "He got a soul," she added.

Angel mustered up the courage to ask what he really wanted to know. "Did you love him?"

Buffy glanced down at their intertwined hands before looking back into his eyes and said, "Did you love Cordy?" They sat in silence for a moment, staring at each other before Buffy continued and said, "I mean, really, _loved _her. Saw a future, thought you had a chance."

Angel sighed before saying quietly, "I get it."

"I cared about Spike, I still do. Just like I know you'll always care for Cordelia," Buffy finished softly. Angel nodded, and they both knew that was that. They said what needed to be said about others that had been a part of their life after they had broken up, and they understood each other.

"So Ms. Summers, what do you plan on doing next?" Angel asked, moving on from their previous topic.

Buffy smiled and shifted on the couch they were sitting on to face him better. "Well I have to figure out what to do with all these slayers. And there's still more out there. All over the world and I need to find them, train them, tell them what they really are," she answered. "Oh boy…" she said to herself, thinking about all the work she had to do next.

"I've been thinking about that, and I think that you can really benefit from this deal with Wolfram and Hart," Angel told her. When she just raised a curious eyebrow at him, he continued by saying, "They have contacts all over the world, and so many recourses that we can take advantage of. We could, um, probably set up a really nice, state of the art training facility for you here in LA." At her look he quickly added, "Or, somewhere else, wherever you want really."

Buffy stared at him for a moment longer and said, "Well, I kind of did miss LA. I was always a city girl at heart." Angel flashed her his crooked smile and Buffy felt her heart do a little flip and swell at the thought of living and working in the same city as Angel.

"Go get some rest, we can talk about it more in the morning," he told her as he stood up and then offered a hand to pull her to her feet. They walked over to the door together and Angel opened it for her. They stood there in the doorway for a beat as they both became aware of how close they were standing. Angel could just barely feel the warmth of her breath and he suddenly heard her heart beat quicken.

Buffy suddenly wrapped her arms around his large frame, giving him a hug. "Thank you," she whispered, pressing her face against his cheek. "For everything," she added, a little breathy. Angel tentatively wrapped his arms around her tiny waist before feeling Buffy give him a soft kiss on the cheek.

She pulled back and he rested his forehead against hers, rubbing their noses together slightly. Buffy slowly inched her lips towards his, unsure of how he would react. Angel closed the rest of the distance and was rewarded by her warm lips brushing against his cool ones. She let her lips linger on his for a moment before pulling away, afraid of what it might lead to.

Buffy smiled at Angel and dropped her hands from around his neck, but he kept his resting on her hips. She gulped before saying, "Do you remember during my junior year of high school, we were um, 'patrolling'" she said, using her fingers as air quotes, "And I had that egg parenting diary thing?"

Angel chuckled at the memory, distinctively recalling that they did very little patrolling that night and spent most of their time pressed up against a mausoleum feverishly making out. "Yeah, I remember."

Buffy paused a beat before continuing. "And you asked me if I ever thought about the future, if I ever cared what happened?" Angel just nodded, recalling the conversation as if it happened yesterday. "Do you remember what I said?" she asked quietly.

_"Angel, when I look into the future, all I see is you. All I want is you."_

"Yeah, I remember," he whispered.

Buffy just smirked before stepping out of his embrace and said, "Just wondering." And then turned and walked down the hallway towards her room. After giving him one last look over her shoulder, Angel gulped.

This was going to be interesting.

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**So what'd you think? Let me know! (Reviews = more motivation = more chapters!)**

**-sailor's delight**


	2. Ain't No Rest for the Wicked

**A/N: THANK YOU for the great reviews! I wanted to get this chapter up quickly so I could get some more feedback and then hopefully start working on my version of "Conviction". I'm really, really proud of this chapter...please read, enjoy and review!**

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**Ain't No Rest for The Wicked**

_**You know there ain't no rest for the wicked,**_

_**Money don't grow on trees.**_

_**We got bills to pay, we got mouths to feed**_

_**Ain't nothing in this world for free.**_

_**Oh no we can't slow down, we can't hold back**_

_**Though you know we wish we could.**_

_**You know there ain't no rest for the wicked,**_

_**Until we close our eyes for good.**_

**-Cage the Elephant**

The next morning, Angel was up early and had called Wesley telling him everything that had happened last night and told him to get to the hotel as soon as he could. The two men were looking over the piles of paperwork that Wolfram and Hart had provided them with about their new jobs, looking for some way they could set Buffy up with a training facility for the slayers.

"I'm sure that we can do it, Angel. We just need to get in contact with someone who can start the process," Wesley said.

Angel sighed. "Well the only person I can think of is-"

"Lilah," Wesley finished simply for him.

Before they could continue their discussion, a small figure trudged down the stairs, yawning loudly.

"Buffy, good to see you," Wes said to her.

"Coffee…coffee," she said, her words muffled by another yawn.

"Of course, right through there," Wes said, pointing her to the direction of the small coffee pot in the area behind the reception counter.

Buffy came back to where they were standing a moment later with a steaming mug in her hands. "Thanks Wes, good to see you too," she said with a smile. "You look…much less annoying than when you were in Sunnydale," Buffy said looking him up and down.

Angel tried to hide a smirk at Buffy's comment as she stood on the other side of him that wasn't occupied by Wesley as the former watcher said, "Thank you, I do try."

Buffy leaned over the counter and took a sip of her coffee. She glanced up at Angel and said, "Morning," with a smile. Angel took his eyes off the paper he was reading and looked at her.

"Morning. How'd you sleep?"

"Mmm, great. You?"

"Pretty good," he said smiling at her. Wesley cleared his throat and brought the two back to their current situation.

"Angel and I were just discussing how we could get a place for you and the slayers to live and train," Wesley told her.

Before Buffy could say anything, Angel interrupted her by saying, "The White Room!"

"Ah, the White Room," Wesley said, as if it made perfect sense.

"The White Room?" Buffy asked.

* * *

"The White Room," Buffy stated as she stood in the vast expanse of nothingness with Wesley and Angel on either side of her. "Wonder how it got its name…" she muttered to herself as she looked up into the infinite expanse of white.

The three started to slowly look around the room as Wesley said, "Be ready to expect anything, the last conduit was a young girl. I have no idea what this one will be…"

Buffy and Angel turned to look at Wes as he trailed off and stared at something in front of him. Angel joined Wesley in staring at the woman in front of them in shock.

"You just don't go away, do you?" Angel said, his voice containing an odd combination of amusement and exasperation as he stared at the figure in front of them.

"This is the last time you'll see me, I swear," the tall brunette said to them.

"Um, hi. Little lost here, who are you?" Buffy asked curiously.

"Lilah Morgan, former employee of Wolfram and Hart, among other things…" she added, looking Wesley up and down. "And you of course are Buffy Summers. The slayer."

Before Buffy could say anything, Wes interrupted her. "I don't understand, are you the new conduit?"

Lilah gave a little laugh at that and said, "Me? No. The conduit is simply borrowing my shape and mind."

"So are you Lilah or not?" Angel asked, getting a little impatient.

"More or less," she replied with a smirk. "But enough about me, you want to ask the senior partners something. So ask away."

Buffy furrowed her eyebrows together and continued to stare warily at the woman. Angel looked to Wes, hinting that he should start the conversation.

"We want Wolfram and Hart to fund the construction of a compound, somewhere in Los Angeles, where Ms. Summers and her…associates, can live, work, and train the many slayers that have now been created."

"Ah, yes, that was your idea wasn't it?" Lilah said to Buffy, talking to her like she was a young child who had just done something wrong.

"Look lady, I don't know who you think you are, and you sure as hell don't know me-" Buffy tried to retort, but Lilah interrupted her.

"Your parents divorced when you were a freshman in high school. You think your father cheated on your mother, but you've been known to blame their split on yourself. He did cheat, by the way. Your first watcher was killed in LA and you quit being the slayer after that. You quit what, three times?" Buffy stared in shock at Lilah as she continued to ramble off facts about her life. "Your sister isn't _really _your sister, even though you sacrificed yourself in her place to save the world. You ran away from home after killing your boyfriend, who annoyingly just came back," Lilah said, sending a glare in Angel's direction. "You had…relations with campus stud Parker Abrams during your freshman year of college. And you gutted your sister slayer in a pathetic attempt to save your honey, who was just going to leave you anyway."

Angel looked down after hearing Lilah's last sentence as Buffy continued to just stare at Lilah, not knowing what to say.

"The Senior Partners liked your creativity with the whole slayer idea back in Sunnydale. They're impressed," Lilah said.

Buffy leaned over to Angel and whispered to him, "Is that good or bad?"

"I don't know yet," he whispered back, still keeping his eyes trained on Lilah.

"Let's talk contracts, shall we?" Lilah said, gesturing to the space behind the trio. They turned around to find a long conference table with four plush chairs waiting for them. Wes, Angel, and Buffy glanced at each other warily before walking over and sitting down in the chairs. Buffy could now see that there were some pieces of paper with writing on them in front of her chair. "So, you want Wolfram and Hart to build you training and living compound for you and your slayers, correct?"

"Yeah," Buffy replied, looking over the contract in front of her, unsure what to make of it yet.

"Well, the only way to do that is to sign a contract with us," Lilah said.

Wesley, Angel, and Buffy all looked up at Lilah when she said this, a little confusion on their faces.

Lilah raised an eyebrow at them and said, "Oh come on, you didn't think you would be getting this for free did you?"

"Well since we own the company now, yeah," Angel said, a little bit of his annoyance starting to come through in his voice.

"Correction; you own the Los Angeles branch of Wolfram and Hart. This is a multi_-dimensional _company we're talking about here. You know what that means right?" Off their looks Lilah said, "Right, of course. You can't possibly think you control what's going on at all of the branches in every single dimension. Wolfram and Hart is everywhere. Only the Senior Partners can handle that much power." Lilah took a deep breath before continuing. "So, we make a contract. You give us something, and we give you something," she said, looking at Buffy.

Buffy snorted and said, "What do you want from _me_? My firstborn? 'Cause given my track record, that's pretty unlikely-"

"We want _you_," Lilah said, interrupting her.

They were all silent for a beat before Buffy said in a tiny voice, "Me? What- I don't understand."

"It's simple. We provide you with a state of the art training compound complete with classrooms, living quarters, weapons, all the amenities a couple dozen slayers would ever need and in return, anytime the Senior Partners feel like they could use the help of one of the most powerful slayers in, well…ever, you'll give them a hand," Lilah told her.

Buffy sat in silence, mulling this over in her head.

Angel spoke first. "Lilah, Buffy's not the kind of person that likes to be told what to do, I really don't think she-"

"Angel, wait," Buffy said, still starting Lilah in the eye.

Angel looked back and forth between Lilah and Buffy, not believing he was hearing this. Buffy was strong willed, like a force of nature or something. She would hate to be on such a short leash like this. "Buffy, you can't be serious…" he said, looking at her.

"How else am I going to take care of all these slayers? It's because of me that they've been thrust into this horrible world of fighting that we live in every single day," Buffy said to him.

"Buffy, you're going to be Wolfram and Hart's hit man!" Angel said, his voice starting to rise.

"I have to think of the bigger picture here Angel!" Buffy said, her voice almost at a yell. "It's not all about me," she said, lowering her voice a little.

Slayer and vampire stared at each other for a beat before Buffy said to Lilah, "I'll do it."

Angel sighed and leaned back in the chair as Buffy picked up the pen on the table and signed the document. Angel sat up as soon as he smelt the liquid coming from the ornate pen.

"Blood?" he exclaimed to Lilah. He knew it was Buffy's; he'd know the smell of her blood anywhere. "How in the hell did you get her blood?"

Lilah smiled sickeningly at him before saying, "Don't ask questions you don't want the answer to." And then she said to Buffy, "You'll be hearing from us soon."

There was a flash of blinding light and Wesley, Angel, and Buffy found themselves back in the lobby of the Hyperion. They all stared at Buffy, the realization of what just happened starting to sink in.

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**A/N: I really hope you guys like this one. In my opinion season 5 of _Angel _was much, much darker than any of the other seasons and I always wondered what it would be like for Buffy to be in the same position as Angel (making a deal with someone you really don't like and is against everything you ever stood for to benefit others). As a result I imagine their relationship in future chapters is going to be different than what they had before; more mature, more adult, which always means pretty heavy angst...but that's what we B/A'ers love, right? Now, to see what we can do about that curse...**

**As always...more reviews = more motivation = more chapters.**

**-sailor's delight**


	3. Conviction

**A/N: There is NO excuse for how ridiculously long it's been since I've updated this. I am so proud of this story idea and I'm ashamed I've been neglecting it. I promise I will try as hard as I can to be more on top of the updates! Anyway, read and enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: Anything recognizable from _Buffy the Vampire Slayer _and/or _Angel _belongs to the creators of the show and not me. I'm using the characters/ideas for fun and not for profit. The title _"Angels & Demons" _was inspired by the Dan Brown book. Lyrics belong to Good Charlotte.

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**Conviction**

**I've seen enough now to know that beautiful things**

**Don't always stay that way**

**I've done enough now to know this beautiful place**

**Isn't everything they say**

**I heard that evil comes disguised**

**Like the City of Angels**

**I'm walking towards the light**

_**-Good Charlotte**_

A week or so after Buffy signed the contract with Wolfram & Hart, the slayer sat at a small desk in her living room focused on her laptop, typing away some brainstorming ideas for lesson plans for the slayers she had yet to train. The light was dim in the cozy living room with most of the light coming from the large TV in the corner that was displaying some new reality show at a low volume. Dawn had gone to bed a few hours ago and Buffy had just gotten back from patrol and thought she would get some work done before heading to sleep. Construction began on the new slayer training compound almost immediately following Buffy signing her contract. And since it was Wolfram & Hart, the facility was nearly completed within a week. There were a few buildings for classrooms and training rooms as well as offices for those who ran the facility, including Buffy, Giles, Willow and Faith. Xander helped around where he could. There was also a nice living and recreational building for the slayers that had dorm rooms, a large industrial kitchen as well as a few living and TV rooms. Buffy and Dawn shared a decent sized condo with Willow and Xander sharing the one next to them. Faith and Robin Wood started a relationship after the fall of Sunnydale so they shared one as well. Giles was grateful to have a condo all to himself. They had decided to name the training facility the Los Angeles Academy for the Gifted after names like Los Angeles Academy for Vampire Slaying were obviously vetoed.

A knock sounded on the door and Buffy, being caught up in a brilliant idea for teaching tracking, just called out, "Come in!" and continued to type away. A pair of strong arms wrapped around her waist and pressed gently on her sides causing her to squeal in laughter.

"Angel! Don't scare me like that!" she scolded him playfully.

Angel chucked and said quietly in her ear, "You shouldn't leave your door unlocked. Who knows who could get in here."

Buffy spun around in her chair facing him and grabbed the lapels of Angel's jacket, pulling him closer to her. "What, like you? 'Cause you're soo scary."

"Yeah, like me," he retorted with a smile.

Buffy pulled him in closer and said, "Well maybe I want you here."

Angel just smirked at her and dipped his head down to kiss her fully on the lips. After the tense moments between the two following Buffy signing the contract with Wolfram & Hart, they wound up spending more and more time together and realized that they still had some pretty intense feelings for each other. After talking it through for a very long time, they decided to take their relationship very, very slow and not rush back into things and stirring up trouble in the form of Angelus like last time.

After a few moments Buffy pulled herself away from Angel and said to him, "So how was your night?"

"Awful!" Angel exclaimed, standing up straight. "I was out patrolling and then all of a sudden the entire firm shows up in the alley with radios and forms and cameras and lattes and-"

"Hey," Buffy said, cutting him off. "Hey, calm down. You own them, can't you just tell them to back off."

Angel blinked and looked down at her. "Oh, yeah. I could do that," he said more to himself than to Buffy. At that moment there was a small ding from Buffy's laptop and she spun around again in her chair to see what it was.

"What was that?" Angel asked, confused at whatever she was doing.

Buffy smiled to herself at Angel's lack of technology knowledge. "Just an e-mail." She clicked on the message and read aloud, _"Ms. Summers, Your presence is required at the Los Angeles branch of Wolfram & Hart tomorrow morning at 9 am. You will receive further instructions when you arrive."_

"Well, looks like you got your first assignment," Angel said, sounding slightly annoyed. He was still unhappy that Buffy essentially sold herself to Wolfram and Hart and would have to remind himself that she was a grown, strong woman who could make her own decisions.

"Yeah. Not even a 'Thank you'…" she said to herself with a sigh, knowing that this was the first of many "assignments" from Wolfram and Hart. She groaned and sat back in her chair.

"I'm sure it won't be that bad. They know what you can do; they've got to be scared of you," Angel said trying to reassure her.

"I don't care about that. I have to be there at 9! AM!" she exclaimed. "Do you realize how early that is?"

Angel just laughed, savoring this moment with her. It may suck that he was CEO of a law firm that specialized in the supernatural, but Angel was grateful that Buffy was back in his life and would be there with him. Maybe it would suck a little less with her by his side.

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The next morning Angel was in the lobby of Wolfram and Hart telling Wesley and Gunn about what happened to him the night before.

"They put a tracer on me! I was working the town, helping the helpless, which is a thing I do. All of a sudden, the entire firm shows up in the alley," Angel said.

"We'll make sure it doesn't happen again," Wesley told him. Just then the elevator behind them dinged and opened to reveal a slightly tired looking Buffy holding a cup of Starbucks coffee.

"Buffy, good morning," Wesley said to her.

She smiled back at him and said "Morning, how are you guys?"

"Oh you know, still getting our bearings," Gunn said to her.

Buffy turned to Angel and said, "Still upset about last night?" with a slight hint of amusement in her voice.

"Yeah, it's not going to happen again," he said as he walked toward his office. The others followed. "We're turning this place inside out. If they wanna see how I handle running Wolfram and Hart, they're gonna find out. Everything must go," he said as he opened the double doors. "Starting with that."

An attractive young woman in a red suit sat on Angel's desk and smiled at them. "Hi. It's really neat to see you guys," she said.

"I'm pretty sure this is supposed to be my office," Angel said, walking closer to her.

"Never happen again. Just wanted to, you know, see your face," the woman said.

"You like to make an entrance."

"You always open both doors when you enter a room?" she retorted to Angel. "I don't need to make an entrance. I need to make an impression. I'm gonna be your liaison to the firm. I'll help you find your way. My name is Eve. And just so we get the whole irony thing out of the way…" Eve picked up an apple and threw it to Angel who caught it easily.

Buffy eyed the woman skeptically. "Who do you answer to?" she asked.

"Well, nice to meet you too Buffy. Aren't these exciting times? Wolfram and Hart has never made a contract with a slayer before. Should be interesting to see how this…arrangement turns out," Eve said ominously.

Buffy continued to stare her down. "You didn't answer my question. Who do you answer to?" Buffy asked her again, this time with more force in her voice. Angel placed his hand gently on her shoulder in an effort to calm her down. It was clear these two women were not going to get along.

Eve raised an eyebrow at her and said, "The senior partners, and if you're thinking, which, by the way you are, that you can use me to get to them, let go of the dream. I answer to them. I don't lunch with them."

Wesley said to her, "Still, a pretty powerful position for a young woman."

"How exactly can you be sure I'm either of those things?" Eve said with a smirk. She stood up and said, "Okay, let me tell you how this works."

"I thought I was in charge," Angel said.

"Of the Los Angeles offices of a multi-dimensional corporation. Now, I'm stressing that last word because that's what we are. We're a business, and we have a bottom line. Now, you could take your new client list and start hacking away from the top down. A lot of our clients are demons, and almost all of them are evil."

Buffy rolled her eyes and sighed. Angel said, "Almost?"

"Things are always more complicated than they seem champ. You can shut this place down, but…then…well, then you wouldn't have it anymore. If the place closes down, the connections dry up. Evil goes next door," she explained. "This is the catch. I'm explaining the catch so you don't have to stand around wondering what it is. See, in order to keep this business running, you have to keep this business running. And that means keeping your clients, most of them anyway, happy."

"Means letting them get away with stuff," Gunn said unhappily.

Eve chucked at him. "Sweetie, they were getting away with it while you were all sitting around your hotel waiting for the phone to jangle. Well, you're on the ins now, and you can stop the worst of it. Maybe find some new solutions to some old problems." She smiled at Angel, Buffy, Gunn and Wesley. "Come on! Isn't anybody excited? This is a crazy time of fun. The most powerful evil around has given a pivotal position over to its sworn enemies. You're not scared, are you?"

Angel just stared her down and took a crisp bite out of the apple he was holding.

"The client files are all in there," Eve said gesturing to the conference room. "You might want to start going through 'em."

"Wait, is that the reason I was called in here today? To go through files?" Buffy asked her, annoyed.

Eve smirked at her. "You never know what might come in handy, slayer," she said before walking out of the office.

* * *

Late that night Angel, Buffy, Lorne, Fred, Wesley and Gunn were sitting around the conference table which was littered with papers, files and takeout food. They were all exhausted.

"This is unbelievable," Angel said looking around at everything.

"I think I've lost my appetite, which is kind of a first," said Fred.

Lorne scanned a file and said, "Hmm, well this is interesting. Apparently old Joe Kennedy tried to get out of his deal with the firm."

"That explains a lot," Angel replied.

"Yeah but George Senior, he read the fine print. There's no one these guys don't have a piece of," Lorne replied.

Angel stood up and said, "How are we even supposed to start making things right?" He tossed the file he was holding on the table.

Buffy looked around at the files and papers scattered on the table in front of her. "We just have to take it case by case. There's no other way to tackle all of this," she said.

"Here's a winner," Gunn said, reading from a file. "Corbin Fries. On trial for smuggling Asian girls in for cheap labor and prostitution. Been charged with drugs, gun running, nothing stuck."

"And that's one of our human clients," Wesley said.

"Looks like the trial's not going too well this time," Gunn replied.

"Hmm, first good news all day," Angel said.

Gunn tossed the Corbin Fries file on the table and said, "I can't even remember which pile is which."

Angel looked at the table and said, "I'll get my secretary to go through it in the morning."

Buffy looked up at him and said, "You get a secretary?"

Wesley said, "I imagine they'll find you someone who can stomach the idea of working for the side of the righteous."

"My impression is a lot of these guys are just opportunistic. They'll go with the flow," Gunn said.

"You know we're gonna have to check the whole staff, make sure we don't have any die-hard evildoers plotting against us," Fred said.

Wesley sat back in his chair and looked overwhelmed. "And here I was, worrying about the clients."

"We're doing the right thing…right?" Angel said looking at the group seated before him.

Buffy looked at him, concerned he was regretting this decision that he was already committed to. She herself was worried about what she got herself into.

"Well, uh…we're doing it tomorrow, exalted one. My horns are falling asleep," Lorne said standing up.

"Yeah you guys go get some rest," Angel told the group.

One by one they stood up and Fred asked him, "What about you?"

"I'll work a while yet, go on," Angel said. Buffy stayed behind and Angel looked at her after everyone else had left the room. "Buffy, go get some rest. You're exhausted."

"I just feel bad leaving you with all this paperwork," Buffy told him, trying to stifle a yawn.

"Don't worry about it. You've got enough on your plate right now."

Buffy yawned again. "Mind if I just crash upstairs?" Angel snapped his eyes up to look at her. While they were technically together, they had yet to spend the night together for fear it might lead to something more and risk Angel's soul. "If I drive I might fall asleep at the wheel, plus the fact that I'm already a terrible driver, I'm bound to crash-"

"Yeah, that's fine," Angel said turning back to the file he was looking at.

"Okay," Buffy said looking at him carefully. "I just gotta call Dawn and let her know where I'll be." Angel just nodded and Buffy sighed. "Promise you'll be up soon?"

"Yeah."

Buffy sighed again and said, "Kay, see you soon," before walking out of the conference room with one last glance over her shoulder at Angel and heading over to the elevator.

* * *

The next morning Buffy awoke and stretched out looking around at her surroundings and was reminded that she was in Angel's bedroom after crashing there after working late. She frowned when she realized she was alone in bed, having barely remembered Angel coming in last night. He must have gotten up early and gone back down to work.

Buffy propped herself up on her elbows and looked over at the small digital clock on the nightstand which read 10:09 in red numbers. "Oops.." Buffy muttered to herself. While she didn't receive any instructions from Wolfram & Hart for today, everyone at the Academy might be wondering what her plans were for the day. Buffy reached for her cell phone that was sitting on the night stand and dialed Giles' office number.

"Giles," the Englishman answered gruffly.

"Hey Giles, it me," Buffy said to him.

"Good morning Buffy, are you in your office? I didn't see you this morning," Giles replied.

"Oh no, I'm still at Wolfram & Hart. We were working pretty late so I just slept here."

"You slept there?" Giles asked.

"Mhmm."

"In Angel's room I presume?"

Buffy rolled her eyes and sat up to get out of bed. "Giles please don't freak out. We're not stupid, we know the risks and we're not taking them, okay?"

There was a moment's pause on the other end of the line and Buffy could just picture Giles' brows furrowed in concern.

"Alright," Giles finally said. "How was yesterday?"

Buffy was grateful for the change of topic. "It was fine," she said as she picked up her clothes on the floor and placed them on the bed. "Pretty boring actually. There's this 'liaison' chick that I can tell is going to get on my last nerve and had me and the other guys going through all of Wolfram & Hart's case files to get us up to speed on their clients."

Giles said, "Looks like you're really getting a taste of the corporate world."

"Yeah and I'm already dying to get out of it. Please give me an excuse to come to there today?" Buffy asked him.

"Buffy, we just had fifteen slayers arrive at our doorstep in addition to the ones from Sunnydale. I think we can find something for you to do."

"Perfect. I'll be there ASAP."

* * *

Buffy stepped off Angel's private elevator and into his office to find the vampire sitting at his desk fiddling with his phone. Buffy tried as hard as she could to stifle a giggle as she heard a woman's voice over the phone say, "To sacrifice a loved one or pet, press the pound-".

"Please tell me that was a wrong number," Buffy said as she walked over to Angel's desk.

Angel spun around in his chair and flashed her a smile. "Hey, you're up."

Buffy leaned down to give him a quick kiss on the lips. "Yeah a lot later than I hoped to be."

"Well you had a long day yesterday, I wanted you to get some rest," Angel told her.

Buffy smiled down at him gratefully but was interrupted by the phone ringing before she could say anything to him. Angel sighed and picked up the phone.

As Angel talked to whoever was on the other end Buffy looked up to see someone unexpected walk into the office.

Harmony Kendall placed a mug on Angel's desk and as Angel reached for it without looking up Buffy said, "You've got to be kidding me…"

Angel took a sip and then looked up. "Harmony?"

Harmony smiled at him cheerfully. "Hey Boss! Hey Buffy! I heard you were going to be helping out around here, that's so cool! You guys are too cute together."

Buffy continued to stare at Harmony incredulously.

"You're my secretary?" Angel asked her.

Harmony sighed. "Hello! Assistant."

"Explain why I shouldn't kill you," Angel said.

"Secretary's fine."

Angel stood up, starting to get mad. "No it's not fine. Where is it fine? You've been working here?"

"Yeah-huh," Harmony answered cheerfully.

"Why?"

"Well duh, I'm a single undead gal trying to make it in the big city. I have to start somewhere! And they're evil here, they don't judge. They've got the necrotempered glass-" She did a little dance in the sunlight. "No burning up. And a great medical plan, and who needs dental more than us?"

"This is surreal," Buffy muttered.

"Now, before you go threatening to fire me…" Harmony started.

"I threatened to kill you," Angel replied.

Harmony started to get nervous and said while slowly backing up, "Let's not quibble. Before anything, just think. I'm strong, I'm quick, I'm incredibly sycophantic – if that means what they guy said – and I type like a superhero. If there was a superhero whose power was typing. And hey, we keep the same hours! Creatures of the night…unite!" Harmony handed Angel the mug again. "How do you like your blood?"

Angel eyed it warily. "Tell me that's not-"

"It's pig's blood. I'm totally off the human blood. That's not even a thing."

Angel smelled the mug and said, "It tastes-"

"Pretty good, right?" Harmony finished for him. "The extra ingredient is otter."

Buffy made a face and said, "Ew," to herself.

Wesley knocked on the door and walked in the office. "Angel, it's one of our cases. It's becoming problematic." He nodded to Buffy and Harmony. "Morning Buffy, Harmony."

"Hey Wes," Harmony replied.

Angel looked between the two. "You know that she was-"

"Wes was the one that picked me out of the steno pool," Harmony said.

"But…why?" Angel asked.

Wes said, "Well I thought a familiar face would be just the thing in a place like this."

"You turned evil a lot faster than I thought you would," Buffy said to Wes.

Wesley brushed off her comment and said, "Nonsense."

Harmony said, "We're gonna get along great boss. The whole gang together again; it'll be just like high school!" At this, Buffy rolled her eyes and shot a glare at Wesley. Harmony continued and said, "I mean, Cordy is gonna lose it when she finds out-" Angel and Wesley looked down, avoiding her eyes. "I mean, you are gonna tell her you're okay with this, right? I mean, I know she was mad at me for trying to kill you all, but she wouldn't – I mean…" Harmony trailed off.

"I thought she knew," Wesley said to Angel.

"Cordy's sick. She's in a coma," Angel said quickly.

Harmony gasped and said, "Oh, God, I-I didn't…What happened? Is she gonna be okay?"

"We don't know."

Harmony looked as if she was going to cry, "Cordy was my best friend, like…my whole life. She's my role model. How can she…" Harmony took a deep breath and then spoke in a chipper voice. "So anyway, I really think you should not fire me, and Wes does too."

"Harmony, would you ask the men in my office to join us please?" Wesley asked her.

"Righty-ho," she said before turning to leave.

Buffy placed a comforting hand on Angel's bicep as Wesley said, "If there's a way to help Cordelia, we will find it."

"What's the case?" Angel asked.

Wes handed Angel and folder and Buffy glanced at it from over his shoulder, "Corbin Fries. The lowest piece of pond scum I've met in, oh, hours. He's about to get 20 years for kidnapping, pimping-"

"I saw the file," Angel said, cutting him off.

Buffy said, "Well this looks like it's about to get super lawyer-ey and less slayer-ey, so I'm gonna help out the gang at the Academy. According to Giles it's like D-Day over there, only more hormones, so I should probably get going."

"Understandable, we'll talk to you soon Buffy," Wesley said.

"Bye Wes." Buffy gripped Angel's hand and gave it a quick squeeze. "Call me later, 'kay?" she said to him.

Angel nodded and said bye to her. He took a deep un-needed breath as she left the office and he prepared to face Corbin Fries.

* * *

Buffy walked to the main entrance of the Academy and into the lobby to be greeted with the sight of about 10 teenage girls bustling about with bags and boxes of clothes, lamps, picture frames, and anything else they were moving into their new dorms. She recognized a few faces but didn't see Willow, Xander, or Giles.

Buffy was about to avoid the commotion in the lobby and escape to her office when Kennedy stepped in front of her, blocking her path.

"Buffy, thank God," Kennedy said exasperated. "Please tell me I'm getting my own room. I fought in the fricken' battle of Sunnydale. That's gotta merit some seniority."

"Um, I'll see what I can do," Buffy said, while trying to walk away. Kennedy gave her a look. "It's probably fine for now Kennedy, but if we get more girls here you might have to double up."

Kennedy scoffed and walked away as Buffy walked towards the main offices. She saw that Willow's door was open and she poked her head in. Willow was putting some files away and smiled when she saw Buffy.

"Thank God you're here Will," Buffy said, leaning against the door frame. "It's a zoo out there, huh?"

"Yeah and those are just the slayers from California. They were the first ones we contacted and were able to get here," Willow said.

Thanks to a nifty spell from Willow, Buffy and the others were able to find the location of every new slayer created. Their job now was to find each girl and tell them about who they have become. The next step was to give them a choice. The girls could come to Los Angeles to live and be trained as a slayer and then either stay in LA, go back to their hometown to slay there, or be placed somewhere in the world that needed some slayer help. Since there was such an incredible volume of slayers created, the girls could also just choose to ignore their calling and go on living a semi-normal life.

"Just imagine how many there are out there Buffy, we might not have enough room to house all of them," Willow said, clearly concerned.

"We have plenty of land to build more dorms on. I'll just suck up to the lovely folks at Wolfram and Hart," Buffy said with fake cheer.

"I hate that you have to sell yourself like this to them, it's just awful," Willow said.

Buffy shrugged. "I gotta take care of my girls," she simply said.

Willow went back to gathering some papers on her desk into a file. "How is everything over at Evil Inc?"

Buffy sat down in the chair opposite Willow's desk. "Evil," she stated. "Angel and everyone are really going to ruffle some feathers on some nasty birds by taking over."

"But it's a good ruffle, right?"

"Yeah, they want to use the place for good. It's a pretty massive project, but I think they can do it," Buffy said smiling to herself. "I met this awful woman yesterday, Eve. She's the liaison to the Senior Partners and managed to annoy me to no end in the five minutes I talked to her. Plus she was totally checking Angel out," Buffy grumbled.

Willow smiled at Buffy apologetically and handed her a sheet of paper. "Sorry about Evil Eve," she said. "Giles said you were going to be here for the day and we're all going to help the new girls move in and get settled. This sheet has all the room assignments and the names of the girls in each room. It'd be really great if you could go around and make sure they're all settled in? Make some face time, you know, reassure them. I think they're all pretty nervous."

Buffy glanced over the paper and nodded. "No problem. It'll be weird meeting all these slayers. Can you believe it?" Buffy said, looking up at Willow. "We're really running the show now, huh?"

"It's pretty unbelievable," Willow replied.

The two girls sat for a moment in silence before Buffy gasped and leaned forward excitedly, "You will _never _guess who Angel's secretary is."

"Who?" Willow asked.

"Harmony. Kendall," Buffy said.

"No way! How's she look?" Willow asked, eagerly.

"Tacky, as usual," Buffy replied. The two girls giggled as they reminisced about their high school years and the looming tasks they had ahead of them were momentarily forgotten.

* * *

Late that night, Angel paced his office. He had just returned from Spanky's apartment where he had found out where Fries placed the "bomb" he threatened to detonate if he said the magic word. Angel stopped behind his desk and placed his palms on it, trying to calm himself.

"Rough day at work?" Eve asked as she walked into the office.

"His son," Angel said angrily. "He took a lethal virus, and he stuck it inside his son."

"Hits you where you live, doesn't it?" Eve asked. Angel looked up at her. "Of course I know. You lost your son. Well, gave him up."

"To save him."

"Which you did. He's happy and well adjusted now that he has no memory of you, and the rest of the world, including your best friends, have never even heard of Connor," Eve finished at a whisper.

"That's not a name I want passing through your lips," Angel said.

Eve grinned at him. "And what would you like passing through my lips?"

"News flash! You're not cute when I'm angry!" Angel told her.

"I'm just curious how you're gonna play it."

"Well, I'll isolate the boy if it comes to that. Stop it from spreading."

Eve continued to look at him. "Here's the news from this sector; if every case hits you this hard, you're not gonna last a week."

"Now I don't want you coming into my office again unless I ask for you. I don't want to hear another word right now unless you decide to start helping out," Angel warned her.

"How do you know I'm not?" Eve said before walking out.

Angel started at the door she exited for a moment before picking up the phone and dialing a number.

* * *

It was nearly dawn and Buffy had just left the last dorm room on her list and walked down the hallway, exhausted. She had met every new slayer at the Academy, answered about a million questions as best she could, and had broken up more than a few cat fights between the girls. She couldn't wait to settle down and watch some mindless TV and have a cup of tea, but her cell phone ringing interrupted her thoughts. She sighed and leaned against the hallway wall and pulled out the phone, not bothering to glance at the caller ID.

"Hello?" she answered tiredly.

"Buffy," came Angel's voice.

"Hey, what's up?" Buffy said with a smile.

"I-I need your help Buffy," Angel said.

At this, Buffy's brows furrowed with concern. "What happened?"

"It's this case-I just…I don't think I can keep a level head on this one."

"Why not…" Buffy asked.

"His son…Fries is gonna sacrifice his own son. Just because he doesn't want to go to jail."

"Oh God," Buffy whispered. "I'll be right there," she said before hanging up. Hearing Angel, the most irritatingly rational person she knew, pleading for her help because he was afraid of being irrational was a clear sign to Buffy that they had a rough road ahead of them.

* * *

Buffy walked through the lobby and opened the door to Angel's office to find him rustling through some papers on his desk in a hurry. He looked up at her when she walked in and simply said, "Hey, thanks for coming in."

"I'm here to help, right?" Buffy said. The question was meant to be rhetorical but inadvertently made the slayer rethink her reasons for being here in the first place.

Wesley chose this moment to walk in and said, "Fred's got the lab techs on track for an antidote, but it could be days. Same with removing the mystical container, I'm afraid. If we could get them to suspend the trial…"

"Not gonna happen," Angel said interrupting him. He grabbed his coat and headed out of the office, Buffy right behind him. "I gotta get to the school."

As they walked past Harmony she said, "Uh, boss?"

Angel brushed her off and said, "It can wait."

"Maybe not," Harmony told him.

"Go to the courthouse. Plan C. I'll let you know when we've isolated the boy," Angel said to Wesley.

"The special ops team already left for the school," Harmony said.

Angel, Buffy, and Wesley stopped in their tracks and turned to face her. "What?" Buffy asked.

"They left, and they called for the cleaners to meet there," Harmony told them. "I have it from some of the girls 'cleaners' means a big job. Lots of bodies."

"How long ago?" Buffy asked.

"10 minutes."

"You'll never beat them on the street," Wesley told Angel and Buffy.

"Well, we gotta try," Angel said.

"Um, boss?" Harmony said again.

"What!" Angel, Buffy, and Wesley asked in unison.

"There's always the helicopter…" Harmony said timidly.

Angel and Buffy looked from Harmony to each other.

* * *

The special ops team pulled up to the school and hurried down the hallway. They gathered around the classroom and put gas masks on before tossing a gas canister into the room. They peered in the door to find Angel standing there. Buffy had gone with the kids to help evacuate them from the building.

"So it turns out, with this new deal and all, I own a helicopter," Angel said.

"Where's the boy?" asked Hauser, the special ops team leader.

"You just missed everybody," Angel told them, waving the smoke out of his face. "Oh, I probably don't wanna be breathing that."

"Kid's still a threat, which means you have him isolated, probably nearby," Hauser said.

"I can see why they made you the leader. Do I even have to start with how fired you all are?" Angel said.

Hauser laughed at him and removed his gas mask. "That's not how it works."

"Oh right! Tradition. Why don't you show me how that's done?"

"Thank you, sir. Take him out!"

The men lunged at Angel.

* * *

Later that day, Angel sat at his desk listening to Eve tell everyone about Gunn's brain upgrade. Buffy leaned against the desk and Wesley, Fred, and Lorne were scattered around, sitting on the couch or standing. Gunn sat in the chair in front of Angel's desk.

Eve thanked Harmony for a bottle of water and said, "It's very simple really. Charles agreed to let us enhance his mind with a comprehensive knowledge of the law."

All eyes were on Gunn who was playing with a cigar and using a cutter to snip off the tip.

"Without asking us?" Wes asked.

"Mother may I?" Gunn asked jokingly. Buffy snickered at the comment.

"Without telling us?" Wesley clarified.

" 'Cause I knew you guys would freak," Gunn explained. "Look, it's me here. They didn't evil me up. All I got stuck in my head was the law. And for some reason a messload of Gilbert and Sullivan."

"Standard. Great for elocution," Eve said.

"How can you possibly know they didn't do anything else?" Angel asked.

" 'Cause I saw the man in the white room. He does a lot of scary things, but lying ain't one of them," Gunn told Angel.

Eve said, "You needed a lawyer to get by here. Charles had the most unused potential. His degrees are forged, but he's the real deal."

"You want me to sing for Lorne?" Gunn asked. "I could give him a little 'Pirates of Penzance'. All of it actually."

"I would also like to point out that he did just save the day. Without ever resorting to violence. How'd you do?" Eve said to Angel. She smiled when he didn't respond. "I think you guys are gonna make it work. Yay, team." She walked over to the door. "I'll see you around," she said before leaving.

"Of course, saving the day meant getting the scumbag who was ready to sacrifice his own son off on a technicality and then returning said son to said scumbag," Lorne said.

"Fred and I have enough time to disable the charm now. He won't be in danger," Wes said.

"And Fries is gonna have to dial down the criminal activities 'till this thing comes to trial again. Which I can draw out for months," Gunn said.

Buffy said, "I hate to sound like Captain Obvious here but this sounds an awful lot like a one step forward, ten steps back kind of deal."

"She's right," Fred said. "Is this gonna be our lives now? Fighting our own employees, our own clients? Are we really gonna do any good?"

"Yes we are," Angel said with resolve. "We're gonna change things. We came to Wolfram and Hart because it's a powerful weapon, and we'll figure out how to wield it."

"Or kill ourselves with it," Wesley said.

"Yay team," Fred said flatly.

Angel stood up from his desk chair and walked around Buffy to stand in front of the desk while saying, "No. Sooner or later they'll tip their hand, and we'll find out why they really brought us here." He picked up an envelope that he had previously ignored and held it. "Meanwhile, we do the work, our way, one thing at a time." He ripped open the envelope. "We deal with whatever comes next," he said as an object fell out of the envelope and onto the floor.

Buffy gasped and tensed, frozen in her tracks as she saw the familiar amulet on the office floor.

A black mass of wind shot from the amulet and began to spin. Pieces of ash began to glow orange as an object materialized in the cloud. As the mass began to take the shape of a skeleton, Angel slowly moved to a protective stance in front of Buffy. Before anyone could comprehend what was happening, Spike appeared in the office, screaming and panting in pain.

Buffy placed her hand on Angel's arm to gently push him out of her view and said softly and with hope, "Spike?"

Angel narrowed his eyes and glared at the other vampire, a low growl escaping his throat as he spat out, "Spike."

* * *

**A/N: Hoped everyone liked this chapter! I once again apologize for the delay. Please review! Constructive criticism always welcome.**

**-sailor's delight**


	4. Just Rewards

**A/N: Thanks for the fantastic reviews everyone! They really do motivate me. Reviewer tonymarsh84 asked a good question that I thought I would address here: "It says that willow shares a room with xander, why not Kennedy?" Lets just say that since Kennedy is a slayer, she lives with the rest of the slayers in the dorms, and she and Willow are only in the beginning of a new relationship.**

******Disclaimer: Anything recognizable from _Buffy the Vampire Slayer _and/or _Angel _belongs to the creators of the show and not me. I'm using the characters/ideas for fun and not for profit. The title _"Angels & Demons" _was inspired by the Dan Brown book. Lyrics belong to The Fray. A big thanks to the wonderful website .com for the transcripts.**

******

* * *

**

**Just Rewards**

_**Let's rearrange**__**  
**__**I wish you were a stranger I could disengage**__**  
**__**Just say that we agree and then never change**__**  
**__**Soften a bit until we all just get along**_

_**But that's disregard**__**  
**__**Find another friend and you discard**__**  
**__**As you lose the argument in a cable car**__**  
**__**Hanging above as the canyon comes between**_

**-The Fray**

Spike looked at his surroundings and gasped in pain. There were some unfamiliar faces staring at him as well as a few familiar ones.

"Buffy?" Spike said, staring at Buffy in confusion.

Buffy stared back at him, open mouthed, trying to comprehend what was unfolding in front of her. "Spike…I-How are you…how are you here?"

"How should I know that? What are you doing here, wherever here is?" Spike asked. "With _him_!" Spike added, seeing Angel for the first time and staring at him in disgust. Angel just glared back at him coldly.

Before anyone could explain Harmony asked, "What the hell are you doing here Spike?

"Harmony, please," Wesley told her.

Gunn smirked at Spike. "This is Spike? _The _Spike?"

"Wait a minute, who's-" Fred asked, confused.

Lorne tried to calm down Spike, who was looking antsy. "Easy slim, easy. No one's gonna hurt you."

"Speak for yourself green jeans," Gunn said to Lorne.

"Okay, would somebody please tell me who-" Fred asked again.

"William the Bloody," Wesley answered. "He's a vampire. One of the worst recorded. Second only to-"

"Me," Angel said. The two vampires glared at each other. "But you're dead," Angel finished.

Harmony, clearly annoyed at the situation rolled her eyes and said, "Well, yeah. Who here isn't?" Buffy stared at her like she was an idiot. Harmony looked around. "Besides him," she said to Wes. "And him," looking at Gunn. "And her," to Fred. "And you," to Buffy. Harmony looked at Lorne and asked, "What are you again?"

At this point Spike, who was fed up with the confusion, vamped out and lunged at Angel. Angel braced himself and Buffy tensed at Spike's movement, but it was not necessary. Spike had gone straight through Angel. Buffy gasped and covered her mouth with her hand as she looked at Spike standing in the middle of Angel's desk.

Spike looked at his body and said, "Bugger." All eyes were on Spike who continued and said, "What? What's happened to me?"

"Well, I'm no doctor, but I think you're a ghost," Harmony said.

Spike pointed at her and said, "I'm no-I'm no bloody ghost!"

"Hey, you're the one sticking out of a desk pal. And you can't talk to me like that! We're not going out anymore," Harmony finished angrily.

Gunn asked what was on everyone's minds. "Where'd he come from?"

Wesley bent down and picked up the amulet. "From this."

"Oh God…" Buffy whispered, eyeing the amulet.

"What is it?" Fred asked.

"Something Angel gave to me before Sunnydale collapsed…" Buffy said quietly, still looking at the amulet.

"Buffy! What's going on here? I don't wanna be here, let's go, let's get out of here," Spike said frantically, gesturing between her and the door.

Buffy stayed standing where she was next to Angel. "I-I can't Spike," she said weakly.

"Can't? Or they…_he _won't let you?" Spike said angrily pointing at Angel.

Buffy just shook her head unsure what to say to him as tears welled in her eyes.

"Lay off, Spike. Buffy made her own decisions while you were gone," Angel said to Spike.

Spike scoffed at him. "You can't keep her from me!"

"She's not mine to keep…or yours."

"Says you! You got no idea what we had!"

Buffy looked between the two vampires, appalled that they were doing this in front of her.

"You never had her," Angel said, getting in Spike's face.

"I'm _right here!_" Buffy protested.

Spike ignored her and said to Angel, "More than you, you poncy-"

"Okay!" Buffy said loudly grabbing Angel's shoulder to pull him away from Spike. "A testosterone pissing contest is not what we need right now! We need to figure out what's going on with Spike, that's _it_!"

"Oh my God!" Harmony said, disgusted. "You and the slayer actually…I mean, I know you had that twisted obsession with her, but…yecch! That's just…yecch!" Buffy stared daggers at Harmony and Angel looked like he was about two seconds away from staking her. Harmony walked towards the office door, stopped and said, "I…yecch!" before turning to leave.

"Where's a hellmouth to swallow you whole when you need one…" Buffy muttered to herself.

"I must be in hell," Spike said.

"Uh, no. LA, but a lot of people make that mistake," Lorne told him.

Fred looked between Spike and Buffy and asked, "So you two are…"

"No! No, no, no," Buffy said while shaking her head, but didn't elaborate.

"He was an ally of hers for some time in Sunnydale, at least that's what Angel told me. That's all Angel told me," Wesley said.

"So he's a good-guy vampire like Angel?" Gunn asked.

"He's nothing like me," Angel said.

"Got that right. What have you done to me?" Spike said looking at Angel. "What is this place?" He asked looking around the office. "Who are you people?" He asked looking at Fred, Gunn, Wesley and Lorne. "What the bloody hell is happening?"

* * *

The group had moved to the science lab to run some tests on Spike. Wesley was looking into a microscope, Fred was scanning Spike, and Buffy had stayed behind to call Giles at the Academy and fill him on what was going on.

"Honey of a story," Lorne said to Wes in the lab.

"Story?" Wes asked.

"Yeah. The vampire slayer both men loved, both lost, and then one got back under some not so fairytale circumstances. Oh, I could sell that to any studio in a heartbeat. I see Depp and Bloom. But then I see them a lot. Sorry, hazard of running the entertainment division. Gotta get out more," Lorne said.

Spike looked warily at Fred. "So what are you then, scanner girl?"

"I'm Fred," she said, introducing herself. "I head up Wolfram & Hart's Science Department."

"Wolfram and Hart. Heard of that. Thought it was a law firm," Spike said.

"It is, among other things."

"Also heard they represent the worst evil in the universe."

"It did, among other things. But now I'm in charge," Angel said.

"Are you now? You and Buffy runnin' things around here?" Spike asked mockingly.

"Buffy helps out. She set up a slayer training facility in LA. The rest of the Sunnydale crew is there too."

"Why do I feel like you're not telling me everything?" Spike asked Angel.

"Maybe because I'm not," Angel said.

"Bloody hell. A bloke fries himself savin' the world to end up in some hellish law firm dimension with Peaches at the helm…" Spike muttered to himself. Angel turned away from him.

"Weird," Fred said. "I'm getting electromagnetic readings consistent with spiritual entities, but there's no ectoplasmic matrix."

"Meaning?" Gunn asked.

"Ectoplasm's what makes ghosts visible to the human eye. If he's a ghost, technically we shouldn't be able to see him," Fred said. "And I'm detecting brainwave activity."

"On Spike?" Angel chuckled. "That is weird."

"Also, ghosts generally absorb light and heat energy making the area around them a few degrees cooler," Fred continued. "Spike's radiating heat."

"Think I'm hot, do you?" Spike said, smirking at her.

"Mm, lukewarm. Just above room temperature," Fred told him.

"Well, what the hell am I then?" Spike asked.

Wesley said, "Whatever he is, it's clearly tied to this amulet. Spike's essence, for lack of a better term, must have been held within it." As Wes said this, Buffy walked into the lab, tucking her cell phone away in her pocket. Wesley asked Spike, "Do you have any memory of a strange sensation when it released its energy?"

"What?" Spike said to him. "You mean my skin and muscle burning away from the bone? Organs exploding in my chest? Eyeballs melting in their sockets?" Buffy looked down as Spike spoke. She didn't want to hear this. "No, no memory at all. Thanks for asking," Spike finished.

Buffy cleared her throat and Angel looked over at her. "Everything okay over there?"

Buffy nodded. "Yeah, I told them what's going on," she said, glancing at Spike. "They're willing to help if they need to. Things are kind of crazy though, lots of girls moving in." Buffy looked at the others. "So we know Spike's connected to the amulet, but last we knew it was buried deep inside the hellmouth. How did it end up here?" Buffy asked.

"Maybe he's here for a reason," Fred theorized. "You know, some higher purpose or something he's destined for. Sent to us by the Powers That Be to help us or-"

"Who gave them the bloody right to do that?" Spike said interrupting her. He began to pace and said, "Can't a man die in peace without some high almighty deciding it's not his time. Let's have a little more fun with him, eh? You think that saving the sodding world would be enough to earn me a rest. You'd think-" Spike's body began to fade.

"Spike…." Buffy said, looking at him.

"Hmm?" He looked down at himself. "Oh, balls." He disappeared.

Fred rushed to where he was standing and began to use her scanner.

"Now what?" Buffy asked, concerned.

"I don't know," Fred said. "He just…" she looked at Angel. "What did he mean, 'saving the world'?"

"Here we go…" Buffy muttered to herself.

"Oh, that, well…Buffy did most of the work," Angel said. Buffy glared at him. "Well he helped, but-" Angel said, backpedaling.

Spike rematerialized across the lab. "Hmm? What? What?" he asked, confused.

"Took the 'what's' right out of our mouths," Lorne said.

"Spike, where'd you go?" Buffy asked.

"Don't you know?" Fred asked him.

"I'm-I was…You!" Spike said, looking at Angel. "This is your fault!"

"Mine?" Angel asked.

"You brought that bloody amulet to Sunnydale. You would have been the one to use it, until you chickened out!" Spike said.

"What did you-"

"You heard me!" Spike said, getting worked up. "You left town in the nick of time, didn't you, before the death and mayhem? Abandoned the woman you claimed to love."

"Spike!" Buffy said angrily cutting in. "I made the call. Wasn't his choice," she said forcefully to him. "And second of all, you begged to wear that amulet. 'You'll be needing someone strong to bear it'. Remember that? Or did you forget calling yourself the 'qualified party', 'cause I sure as hell didn't forget."

Spike stared at her for a moment before gesturing around and saying, "Well this bloody hell wasn't my choice. I'm not him," he said nodding to Angel. "I don't give a piss about atonement or destiny. Just because I got me a soul doesn't mean I'm gonna let myself be led around by-"

"Excuse me?" Fred interrupted.

"Did-did you just say," Wes started. "Spike has a soul?" he looked to Angel and Buffy. "You never said."

"Didn't seem worth mentioning, you know," Angel said. Buffy looked down, avoiding eye contact.

Gunn frowned and said, "Seems to be a lot of that."

"Or maybe Captain Forehead was feeling a little less special. Didn't like me crashing his exclusive club. Another vampire with a soul in the world," Spike said glaring at Angel.

Angel got in Spike's face and said, "You're not in this world. Casper." He walked out of the lab. Buffy sighed and then made a move like she was going to follow him but decided against it.

Angel was walking toward the lobby when Spike materialized behind him. "Running away again?" Angel just rolled his eyes and continued walking. "Nice new M.O. I can see why heroes like you get rewarded with the shiny new glass and chrome. Why didn't I think of that?"

Angel said, "I'm not responsible for what happened to you," as he walked past Harmony's desk.

Harmony tried to stop him by saying, "Angel, it's almost three o'clock, you have a meeting scheduled-"

"Not now Harmony," Angel replied, cutting her off.

"And here," Spike said, "You've even managed to get my ex-tumble, the littlest vampire, fetching coffee for you. Nice perks for the sell-out."

Angel turned to face him, "Little tip Spike, try not to talk about things you don't understand."

"I'm not the prat here," Spike responded. "I know you, Angel. What do you think you're doing? Made some devil's bargain to take over this company. Thought you'd use it to fight the evil of the world from inside the belly of the beast. Trouble is you're too busy fighting to see you and yours are getting digested." The two vampires glared at each other for a beat before Spike added, "And you can go to hell, again, if you think I'm going to sit back and let you bring Buffy down with you."

Angel glared at Spike for a moment before saying, "She made the decision to come here, she knows the risks."

"Oh yeah, and I'm the Queen Mum if this whole power play of yours wasn't some ploy to get her in bed with you," Spike said sarcastically. "You're acting a lot more like that ponce Angelus since the last time I saw you."

Angel stopped in front of the elevators. "Not gonna happen."

"Oh you think you're in control here?" Spike said. "Guess again mate. You're no more in control than I am. Except I'm not gonna bloody stand for it, while you're just a blind…" Spike paused and looked over Angel's shoulder at the open elevator doors. "Grox'lar Beast."

"What?" Angel asked. He turned to see the Grox'lar Beast step out of the elevator. Angel threw a punch at the beast but it punched back and knocked him down. Spike stepped up to throw a punch but his fist went right though the Grox'lar's head.

"Oh, brilliant," Spike said.

Angel gets up and the demon approaches him and they begin fighting and trading blows. Angel finally got the upper hand and threw the demon against the wall. The Grox'lar slumped down, unconscious.

Angel looked around the lobby and asked, "Somebody want to tell me how a Grox'lar Beast got past security? I don't have time for this."

"Of course not. Man's gotta stay focused on profit margins and power lunches," Spike added.

Harmony tried to intervene and said, "Angel-"

But Angel ignored her and turned to Spike. "Yeah Spike? I got a business to run. That means responsibilities, appointments to keep."

"That was your three o'clock," Harmony said.

"That…" Angel started. Spike laughed at him. "I'm meeting with Grox'lars? They eat babies!"

"Just their heads," Harmony clarified. "You were supposed to open negotiations with his clan."

"Negotiations for what?"

Gunn walked up to the scene, Buffy behind him. "Get 'em to stop eating baby heads," Gunn said.

"Oh," Angel said looking at the unconscious demon. "So that's good. Oh, so this-this is bad."

"Jeeze," Buffy said. "You two are alone for five minutes and you've managed to knock out your three o'clock," she said jokingly.

"No, actually the Grox'lar clan respects someone who takes a strong opening position. Wolfram & Hart didn't just jack me up here with human laws, also demons laws from every dimension. Probably should have briefed you about the Grox'lar, but we got a little…" he looked over at Spike and finished saying, "sidetracked. Plus I've been implementing our reforms. Mostly staff overhaul. I've fired 40 employees in the past two days."

Angel started to walk away and said, "How's that going?"

Gunn followed Angel "As expected. Anger, tears, venomous death threats."

Buffy started to follow the two men when her cell phone rang. "I'll catch up with you in a sec." She looked at the caller ID; it said "Blocked". Buffy held the phone up to her ear as she answered tentatively.

* * *

Back in the lobby, Harmony said to Spike, "Listen, I know I was a little crabby before. I mean, hello? A little awkward seeing you at my work. But if you want to talk or something, you know, about us or…" Spike ignored her and watched Buffy talk to someone on her phone. She hung up with a sigh and turned to walk down the hallway Angel and Gunn went down a few minutes prior. Harmony watched him go and said, "Okay, too soon. I understand…Slayer-loving freak," she added under her breath as she watched him go after Buffy.

* * *

In the hallway Spike caught up to Buffy. "Buffy, wait!" he called to her. She turned around, looking a little frustrated. Spike saw this and said to her, "Look I'm sorry about back there," he said, referencing what happened between him and Angel in the lab. "You know Peaches and I destined to yammer each other till the end of time-"

"It's not that," Buffy said, cutting him off. "I just got a phone call, they want me to stay here for the day to help figure out what's going on with you. Kind of frustrating when I know I have a mountain of work back at the Academy."

"Then go do it," Spike said to her. "You've never been the kind of person who just takes orders. Who the bloody hell is callin' you and givin' you orders? Do they have any idea who you are?"

"Yes…" Buffy said quietly.

"Then why the bloody hell are you here?" Spike said angrily.

"Look, Spike I really can't explain it right now, Angel has a lot going on and I'm here to help out. But I do want to talk later. There are things I want you to hear from me and not someone else," Buffy told him.

"Alright, yeah…later," Spike said.

Buffy walked down the hall to Gunn's office, Spike following a short ways behind her.

"Sorry, that was Eve," Buffy said as she walked in the office. "Wants me here for the day, says things are gonna get a little hectic with our new arrival."

"Well we appreciate the extra muscle," Gunn said. "I was just about to tell Angel that we caught an associate we laid off trying to smuggle this out of the voodoo division." He held up a voodoo doll that had dark skin and was wearing a suit.

"It's a nice likeness," Angel said, looking at the doll.

Spike walked in the office and said, "This place just goes on and on, doesn't it? Like a ruddy theme park attraction."

"I'm in a meeting Spike," Angel said.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't care," Spike replied.

"Look, we're ruffling a lot of dangerous feathers out there. There's gonna be a backlash. Count on it," Gunn said.

"Well, we'll just have to ride out the ripples for a while," Angel said.

Buffy looked at a man wearing a bright blue shirt with an even brighter yellow tie walk into the office. "I'm sensing a ripple on its way now," she said.

"Yes, uh-Novac, sir. Uh, what's this about you shutting down the Internment Acquisitions Division?" Novac said to Angel.

Angel murmured to Gunn, "Internment Acqui…"

"Grave robbing," Gunn said to him.

"Listen, I know you fellas are in charge now, and you're doing a bang-up job. I'm with you 110%, but that department brings in mucho revenue to this company," Novac said.

"Well Novac, we'll just have to tighten our belts and do without," Angel said walking up to him.

"No you're not getting it…sir," Novac added looking at Angel. "I.A.D. is under contract to provide fresh bodies to Magnus Hainsley. You know who he is, right?" Angel looked to Gunn. "Oye," Novac said. "Okay, he's one of our oldest clients. Big potatoes. We stop delivering, and he is not gonna be…thrilled."

"Then he's probably not gonna like it when you advise him that he's no longer our client," Angel told Novac.

"Me?" Novac said, looking concerned.

"You got it, counselor," Angel said walking to Novac. "You tell Mr…" he cleared his throat.

"Hainsley," Gunn provided.

"Hainsley," Angel went on, "that Wolfram and Hart is under new management and out of the grave robbing business. Now, run along and go argue your case."

"Me?" Novac asked nervously again.

"Go," Angel stated.

Novac started to walk towards the door when Spike spoke to him. "You don't have to take that from him, mate."

"Stay out of this Spike, you don't work here," Angel said to him.

"Damn right I don't. Look at you. This is what you do now? Delegate the dirty work to spineless, low level flunkies." He turned to Novac and said, "No offense. The mighty hero reduced to a bloody bureaucrat. And don't even get me started on trying to comprehend what a certain slayer is doing here-"

"Spike you have no idea our reasons for coming here!" Buffy cut in angrily. She had been trying to cut him slack all day but he was talking about things he didn't understand. Spike wasn't aware that coming here was the only way to help and take care of the people they loved and cared about. Connor and the dozens of slayers Buffy was responsible for now had better lives because of Angel and Buffy's sacrifices. Sacrifices that had brought them closer together. Buffy looked like she wanted to say more to Spike but couldn't find the words.

Angel stepped in for her. "Get out of here Spike."

"Gladly," he said, giving Buffy a lingering look. "Cruel enough punishment being stuck here as a spook while you play Chairman of the Boring. But hell if I'm gonna spend my afterlife in your stinking city. Get stuffed."

* * *

After Spike had left, Angel retreated to the privacy of his office. He stood by the window and looked out at the bright lights of Los Angeles. The only word he could think of to describe the Spike situation was frustration. He was frustrated that Spike was another kink in his plan to take down Wolfram and Hart. He was frustrated that his team had to shift their energies away from doing good to figure out what was happening to Spike. And he was especially frustrated at the position Spike put him and Buffy in. He knew that Buffy still cared for Spike; after all, Angel still cared for Cordelia, but not in the same way he felt about Buffy. He knew it was the same way for her with Spike.

Angel felt a presence at the door. Buffy lingered at the doorway, unsure whether or not she should disturb his thoughts.

"You don't really think he's gone, do you?" Angel asked before she could walk away.

Buffy stared at his broad shoulders. "That what's on your mind?" she asked him.

Angel turned to face her and walked over to his desk where he sat down. "Could have been me, Buffy. Was supposed to be me," he said to her, not making eye contact.

Buffy regarded him for a moment before saying anything. "You're not feeling guilty…are you?"

"About Spike?" Angel chuckled. "He's not-that's not-that's not-" Angel sighed before continuing. "Wolfram and Hart gave me the amulet. They must have expected me to use it. And they had to have known it would've done to me what it did to Spike so…"

"Why bother handing you the keys to the kingdom," Buffy finished for him.

"Doesn't make sense…" Angel wondered.

"I wish I could give you an answer," Buffy said, walking up to the edge of the desk. When Angel didn't respond but only furrowed his brows deeper, Buffy sighed and continued. "I also wish you wouldn't distance yourself from me now that Spike's back. I'm not going to leave you for him," she said. Angel looked up at her. For a moment his expression looked hopeful, like she had just told a child he could stay up an extra hour to watch TV.

But Angel's expression quickly clouded over and he avoided her green eyes again. "Buffy," he said, "distance is the only way you and I work."

"Well, I've been thinking about that," Buffy said as she pulled the chair across from the desk closer so she could sit and rest her elbows on the surface of the desk. "What if I do a little something extra for Wolfram and Hart. Kill a pesky demon? Take out a nagging client? You think they'd do something for me? For us?"

Angel looked at her, puzzled. "What do you mean?"

"I mean," she said, getting closer to him, "What if they could patch up that little loophole in your curse?" She closed the rest of this distance between them with her lips. Buffy melted into the kiss. It felt like such a long time since they had a few moments to themselves and Buffy could feel a tiny bit of the tension drain from both her and Angel as he gently massaged her mouth with his soft lips. She pulled away for a moment and whispered, "Just think about it." Angel looked into her eyes, unsure about her plan.

The noise of someone at the door clearing his throat brought them ended their moment. The couple pulled apart to see Wesley at the entrance to the office. He looked apologetic and said, "Look who I found wandering the lobby."

Spike appeared from around Wes and said, "Really, you two? It's bad enough being a bloody ghost, I really don't want to be seeing _that_."

Buffy looked down, slightly embarrassed that Wes and Spike had seen her and Angel's moment. Angel looked angrily at Spike and said, "What are you doing here? I thought you left town."

"Don't think I didn't bleeding try. Every time I got as far as the city limits I kept popping back here like my insides are getting yanked," Spike said. He then added, "I really am in hell if I'm stuck in this bleedin' building forever, forced to watch the two of you snog all day."

Buffy scoffed at him but before she could say anything Wes cut in and said, "Hmm, I suspected as much. The amulet's Wolfram and Hart's property. It's bound to this place, and since Spike's connected to it-"

"Hey!" Spike interrupted him. "I'm nobody's bloody property, Percy. So what? I'm just stuck here forever?" He looked to Angel and said, "I bet you're just loving this, aren't you?"

Angel looked at him and said, "Knowing you'll be haunting me 'till the end of time?" He smirked and said, "Hmm. It's a dream come true."

Harmony tentatively knocked on the door and said, "Uh, boss? That Novac lawyer you sent over to dump the client…well, he's back."

"Okay, send him in," Angel told her.

Harmony looked unsure. She said, "Mmm, okay…" She turned to face two men in suits who walked into the office carrying three buckets full of something red and slushy. One of the buckets had a bloody bright yellow tie hanging over the edge.

Angel, Buffy, Wesley and Spike looked at the buckets in horror. The men in suits placed the buckets on Angel's desk as he said, "What is…". When they spotted the tie, the group realized what had happened to Novac.

Spike smirked at them and said, "Ol' buckets here was right. You guys are doing a bang up job."

Buffy and Spike remained in the office as Angel and Wes walked into the lobby. Buffy could hear Angel talking to Harmony about Novac.

"Harmony, get me Novac's contact list, close relations, next of kin, and let's be discreet about that for the time being okay?"

"Discreet? Oh, you mean like not tell anyone about bucket-o-lawyer," she said.

"Harmony, contact list," Angel said.

Gunn walked off the elevator and handed Angel a file. "Hey," he said, "got word you wanted the file on Magnus Hainsley. Dig this. He's a sorcerer, big time. Rich with old money and older mojo. Owns a respectable block of shares in Wolfram and Hart and he's connected up the wazoo. Carries influence with power players in the entertainment industry, politics-"

Angel, who was looking through the file as he walked back towards his office cut him off and said, "He's a necromancer."

"Power over the dead," Wesley added. "That explains the bodies Wolfram and Hart's been providing him."

"But not what he's been doing with them," Angel said as he walked back into his office. He turned to Spike who was sitting in Angel's chair and said, "Out of my chair."

"Make me," Spike replied. Buffy, who was still sitting in the chair across the desk glared at Spike.

"What's in the buckets?" Gunn asked.

Angel sighed and Spike answered for him. "Your man Novac. Guess he's been…what do you call it? Downsized."

"It's a message from Magnus Hainsley, and I'm gonna reply to it personally," Angel said.

"You can't take Hainsley on yourself," Buffy said to him, getting up from her chair.

Angel walked toward the private elevator. "I'm not gonna risk him turning somebody else into chowder. Especially you," he added in a softer voice.

Wesley said, "Angel, you have a multi-billion dollar company at your disposal with armed and trained personnel."

"They cramp my style," Angel said as he walked into the elevator.

"Yeah, well, your 'style' isn't going to cut it with a necromancer," Buffy said to him, getting frustrated. "You're dead. I'm not. He can't touch me," she said before she grabbed her leather jacket off the back of her chair, walked toward Angel, shrugged on the jacket and stepped in the elevator. "I'm going with you."

Angel sighed. It was no use arguing with her; he knew from experience.

Before the elevator doors could close, Wesley said, "We should probably avoid an eye-for-an-eye escalation here."

"Not going for his eyes, Wes," Angel said.

Gunn stepped forward and said, "I know what you should go for." Buffy stuck her leather-clad arm out to stop the door from closing. She and Angel stared at Gunn. "It'll hurt him. Bad," he said.

* * *

Angel and Buffy exited the elevator and stepped into the parking garage. The large selection of sports cars was spread before them. They stopped in front of the row of cars.

"Ladies choice," Angel said to her.

Buffy studied the cars. "Mmm…Viper," she said with a smirk.

He gave her a small smile and said, "After you."

Buffy walked up to the black Viper and opened passenger door to see Spike sitting in her seat.

"Knew you'd pick the Viper. So bloody predictable," Spike said.

"Spike, get out of the car," Buffy told him.

"No," he replied.

"What?" she asked.

"You heard her Spike. Get. Out," Angel said.

Spike turned to him. "This haunting you 'till the end of time idea of yours is starting to sound appealing. I could drive you completely starkers, right out of your gourd," Spike said. "Yeah, and you wouldn't be able to do a sodding thing about it.

Buffy slammed the door shut and walked over to the next car. She opened the passenger door to see Spike again. She groaned.

"Fancy a road trip," Spike said. "This'll be fun, eh? The three of us together again."

"When did the three of us ever have fun together?" Buffy asked him. When he didn't respond Buffy sighed and said, "Get in the back."

Spike rolled his eyes but obeyed. Buffy and Angel got in the car. Angel turned the key in the ignition and Spike asked, "So…where are we off to?"

Angel drove the car out of the parking spot and said, "To see the wizard."

Angel, Buffy, and Spike arrived at a large, extravagant house and were lead inside by a butler who asked, "Do you have an appointment with Mr. Hainsley?"

"Let's just say he sent us an invitation," Spike answered.

Angel looked at him, irritated. "We're-I'm from Wolfram and Hart."

"I'm his date," Spike added.

The butler said, "Mr. Hainsley is with a customer at the moment. I'm afraid he does not suffer interruption lightly."

"Not so worried about his suffering. Go ahead and interrupt," Angel said.

"As you wish," the butler said. "Please wait here."

Buffy looked around the foyer as Spike said, "Oh, life among the power elite. It's all so civilized. Hainsley grinds up one of your people into chum, and you drop by for tea."

"I'm hoping to avoid a body count here," Angel said.

Buffy was looking into an adjacent living room. "No worries," she said to Angel and Spike. "Looks like Hainsley keeps one on hand."

She walked into the living room, Angel and Spike following her. It was a handsomely decorated room, complete with fireplace, grand piano, and a dozen or so people posed around the room, like figures in a wax museum.

Spike looked around and said, "Man likes to play with dollies."

"This isn't for him," Angel said looking around. "It's a showroom."

Buffy just looked at the figures, a repulsed look on her face.

"I don't know, maybe the geezer's just lonely. Throws himself a surprise party every night. Picks out one of these painted pigeons and shows her a good time, if you know what I mean," Spike said. Angel and Buffy looked at him incredulously. "What? I'm sure they don't mind."

"Yeah, I mind," Buffy told him.

"Why? They're the lucky ones, aren't they? It's over for them. They've shuffled off, cleanly, the one time. Nobody's shoving them back into the stinking world against their will," Spike said.

To Buffy, Spike's words struck a little too close to home for her liking. She tensed and glared at Spike. Angel saw this and knew what Buffy was thinking. He cut in and said angrily, "I mind."

There was a moment of tension in the room between the three that was disrupted when the butler entered the living room.

"Mr. Hainsley has asked that I send you back to Wolfram and Hart, lady and gentlemen," he said. The butler then pulled out a set of butcher knives behind his back. "In a manner of speaking," he added. He whipped around the knives for added effect.

"Uh-oh," Spike said. "Looks like it's buckets for you two."

Angel ignored Spike's comment and grabbed a tiny spoon in a teacup held by the figure beside him. He forcefully threw the spoon at the butler and it stuck in his forehead. The butler screamed in agony. Buffy looked from the butler to Angel, momentarily stunned by what just happened.

"A spoon?" Spike said, humor evident in his voice. "That's just…" Spike stopped when the butler pulled the spoon out of his forehead. The butler turned to Angel angrily. "Well, okay, that's more…" Spike stopped again as the butler collapsed. "Disappointing, really."

"I know you can't help me," Angel said to Spike, "but could you maybe not root for the other team?"

"Hey, I'll root for anyone with half a chance of taking you down a notch," Spike said.

Buffy could feel an explosion between the two vampires imminent so she cut in and said, "Okay, what is your problem Spike?" She tried to sound understanding but it came out a little exasperated.

Spike just looked at Angel and said, "He is, the ponce! He's my problem!" Spike walked up to Angel and got in his face. "You got it too good." Angel just walked away but Spike followed him and continued, "You're the king of a 30 foot castle, with all the cars, comfort, power, and glory you could ever want! I mean you-you even got…" Spike paused, struggling to find the words he was looking for. "You got Buffy," he said. Buffy and Angel looked at him. "That would have been enough for me," Spike murmured quietly.

There was a beat of tense silence and Buffy could feel pity swelling in her. "Is that what this is about?" she asked Spike. He remained silent.

"She doesn't want you, so move on," Angel said coldly. Buffy sighed and closed her eyes. What Angel said was true, but she wished he hadn't said it so harshly.

Spike raised his voice again and said, "She picked you after I was Hellmouth chum! Never really got to properly choose, I'd say."

Buffy looked between the two vampires and said, "Really? Are we really doing this right now?"

"No time like the present, love," Spike said, still glaring at Angel.

Buffy faced Spike so he was forced to look at her. She said in a gentle voice to him, "There _is_ no choice." She shook her head sadly at him and said, "I'm sorry Spike."

Spike stared at her for a moment before accepting defeat. "Figured as much. It's just…I save the world, throw myself onto the proverbial hand grenade for love, honor, and all the right reasons, and what do I get? Bloody well toasted and ghosted is what I get, isn't it? It's not fair."

Angel rounded on Spike. "Fair? You _asked_ for a soul, I didn't! It almost killed me. I spent a hundred years trying to come to terms with infinite remorse! You spent three weeks moaning in a basement, and then you were fine! What's fair about that?"

Spike started to fade again. "Are you getting blurry or is it-" he managed to say before disappearing.

Angel growled in anger and frustration and walked away to find Hainsley. He stopped in front of a large set of double doors and with a swift kick knocked them down. Buffy winced a little when he did so, figuring that the confrontation with Spike only fueled Angel's desire to kick down a door. She followed him into the large room where Hainsley was currently washing up.

"Come in. It's open," Hainsley said to Angel.

"Hainsley," Angel said in reply.

Hainsley dried his hands as he eyed Angel and Buffy. "Didn't know it was the head cheese himself. I thought for sure you were another lackey. And who's the pretty girl you've brought me?"

"None of your business," Buffy said to him.

"I heard a little rumor the Slayer was working at Wolfram and Hart. You couldn't possibly be her?" Hainsley asked Buffy.

Before she could respond, a woman who had been lying on a table in the middle of the room sat up and said, "Oh, uh, I can see you guys have a thing going on." She walked toward the door. "Don't wanna get in your way. I'll let myself out."

Buffy felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand up and a tingle go though her body as the woman walked past her. Buffy grabbed the woman's arm as she strode past. The woman's eyes glowed red and she growled at Buffy who gave her a swift punch, knocking her out.

"So how much do you charge, huh? Installing the average demon in a human body? I'm sure a lot of them would love to pass as people. You know, walk amongst the sheep," Angel said to Hainsley.

"Believe me, friend," Hainsley said, laughing. "The average demon can't afford it."

"I'm cutting off your supply, Hainsley. As of now your body shop is-" Angel was cut off by Hainsley who had flicked his wrist and caused Angel to freeze in place painfully.

"Who do you think you're talking to?" Hainsley said. At this, Buffy started towards Hainsley who, at her movement, turned his hand causing Angel to groan in pain. Buffy stopped in her tracks as Hainsley said, "Ah-ah-ah Slayer. Not so fast." He then continued speaking to Angel, "I eat the dead for breakfast, son. And you're just another plate o' bacon and eggs."

Spike suddenly appeared behind Angel and Buffy. Hainsley laughed and said, "A ghost, huh? You brought a ghost as your backup, vampire?"

"I'm not here to back him up, I just haunt the bastard," Spike said.

"Stay out of this," Angel said.

"Oh, stick it. Far as it'll go," Spike told him. "You go ahead, wiz. Do what you want."

"Spike!" Buffy exclaimed at him. She was trying to figure out a way to get at Hainsley without causing him to hurt Angel anymore.

"What I want is to turn you inside out, like a shirt," Hainsley said. "I could dust you right now, boy. Wouldn't even need a stake." Hainsley released Angel who groaned. Buffy rushed to his side and put a calming hand on his back. "But that would be too big an insult for the senior partners to overlook. Seems that they've got plans for you," Hainsley continued.

"I've got plans of my own," Angel said. He pulled out his cell phone and dialed a number. "Gunn. Do it," he said into the phone.

"And what was that? Just call in an airstrike?" Hainsley asked.

"I just froze all your bank accounts, terminated your paper assets, and turned your books over to a very motivated contact we have at the IRS. Five minutes from now, you'll have nothing but this house. Ten minutes from now, that'll go into foreclosure," Angel said smoothly.

Hainsley frowned and said, "You can't do that."

"We'll let ourselves out," Angel said.

"It's not legal. You think you can get away with that?" Hainsley chuckled darkly and said, "I'll sue you to hell."

"Good luck," Angel told him. "We're your lawyers."

As Angel, Buffy, and Spike left the room Hainsley called after them, "This isn't over, vampire!" Angel ignored the threat and walked towards the front door.

"That's how you're gonna fight the forces of evil now, call the IRS?" Spike asked.

"Whatever it takes," Angel replied.

"Hello, IRS? Will you fight my battles for me? And while you're at it, will you wipe my wide, spotty…" Spike faded out and disappeared.

"Oh thank God," Angel said. "Come on, let's get out of here."

Buffy nodded her agreement and they left the house.

* * *

Back in Angel's office, Gunn and Angel were discussing Hainsley as Buffy sat on one of the couches, thinking about the night.

"Wiped out every asset we could find on Hainsley. Wasn't easy, man's got his fingers in a lot of dirty pies," Gunn said.

"Yeah well I think pies are gonna be off his menu for a while," Angel said.

"Yeah, well, it's gonna hurt. I mean, damn, who doesn't love pie?" Gunn said before sitting down in the chair across from Angel's desk as Fred and Wesley walked in.

"You're back," Fred said.

"Hainsley out of business?" Wesley asked.

"Yeah, for the time being," Angel answered.

"So he's not going away?" Fred asked.

"Well, I think that 'this isn't over yet, vampire' may be the tipoff," Angel said. "Look guys, can we get back to my uh, spiritual crisis?"

"Yes, Spike," Wesley said. At Spike's name, Buffy's head snapped up and she began to pay closer attention to the conversation.

"Popped out on us at Hainsley's place," Angel said. "But we all know that he'll be back and back and back, and I really don't want that happening again, so explain to me how we're gonna get him out of here."

"Woah, wait," Buffy said, sitting up straighter. "Get him out of here? Shouldn't we be trying to make him solid again?"

"Buffy…" Angel started.

"No, don't 'Buffy' me," she said, cutting him off. "Not after I stood up for us back there. Spike does not deserve to be stuck in limbo like this. He came back for a reason. Things like that don't just happen accidentally."

"Buffy, I've had my entire department doing thorough research on the amulet," Wesley told her. "It looks like there's only one thing we can do for him."

"Which is…" she prodded.

"Give him something he asked for. Eternal rest."

There was a beat of silence as the group thought this over.

"This is an unusual situation but I think it's our only choice," Angel said.

"It's what we'd do in any case of a haunting, isn't it? An exorcism of sorts," Wesley said.

"You're talking about killing him," Buffy said.

"I know he's already dead, but…he'd be gone-dead. Forever. It just doesn't seem right," Fred said.

Buffy sighed, grateful that there was someone who shared her thoughts. She gave Fred a small smile.

"I agree," said Wesley. "But neither is leaving him here, trapped between realms, with no control over his fate, not able to touch anything, affect anything. Unable to fight. Letting him cross over seems the most merciful thing-"

"Yeah, yeah, mercy," Angel agreed, cutting off Wes. "I'm all for it. Just, hey, tell me how to do it."

As the group discussed how to release Spike from the amulet, Angel looked over at Buffy, who was again deep in thought. He could see that Wesley's words got to her and she was beginning to realize that maybe letting Spike cross over was the best thing to do.

"The amulet's protected, invulnerable to anything, but the magic that's protecting it doesn't work on hallowed ground," Wesley said.

"Hallowed. Like a church?" Gunn asked.

"Or cemetery, yes. It has to be taken there and destroyed."

"Destroyed how?" Fred asked.

"I think a sharp blow would probably do the trick," Wes said.

"Angel," Gunn asked, "what do you think?"

Angel looked at Buffy who had her brows furrowed in thought and said, "I think I want to sleep on it."

Fred nodded and placed the amulet on Angel's desk. She, Wesley, and Gunn left the office, leaving Buffy and Angel alone in silence.

Buffy remained quiet after the group left the office and Angel waited a few moments before asking her, "You want to talk upstairs?"

She looked down and simply nodded, her brows still furrowed in thought.

* * *

When they got upstairs to Angel's penthouse, Buffy paced the bedroom for a bit before sitting on the bed. Angel waited patiently for her to say something.

"You know I want to help him because he's a friend, right?" Buffy finally said.

"Yeah," Angel said softly. "But that's not the issue…"

"No, the issue is whether or not we should…put him to rest," Buffy said.

"Exactly," Angel said. When Buffy didn't say anything he continued. "What do you think we should do?"

After a moment Buffy said, "I think we should release him." She looked up at Angel and continued by saying, "We don't know how to make him not a ghost and he did his part in stopping an apocalypse so…it's really the only thing we can do."

"Right," Angel said as he sat down on the bed next to Buffy. "And I'm saying that as the boyfriend of Spike's friend, not as someone who hates the guy."

Buffy offered him a small smile. "Thanks," she said. Angel placed his large hand on her back and moved it up and down in a soothing manner, feeling some of the tension she was holding drain out of her. Buffy leaned her head down on his shoulder.

A voice out of the shadows interrupted the silence. "Well, look at you two." Buffy sat up, startled but relaxed and sighed when she saw who it was.

Angel looked at Spike angrily and said, "Aw, no. No. No, no!"

Spike ignored him and went on saying, "Sitting in luxury's ample lap. Top of the world. Looking down on…well, everyone. It's good to be king, isn't it?"

"Ground rules," Angel told him. "Haunt me all you want during business hours, but this space – off limits."

"Right, so you can woo your girl here all you want," Spike said. Buffy shot him a glare and Angel started to say something but Spike continued and said, "Relax beefcake. I didn't come here for a fight."

"Really…" Buffy said, her voice full of doubt.

"Not that I could, right? Can't touch, can't affect anything…Yeah, I overheard your little group powwow about me."

Buffy felt dread and guilt build up in her stomach. "How much?" she asked him.

"Enough of enough," Spike said to her.

"Spike, I'm-" Buffy started, but Spike interrupted her.

"Necromancer tried to make a deal with me."

"What?" Angel asked.

"Said he could bring me back-body and soul-if I used our close personal relationship to double cross you," Spike said.

"Tempting," Angel said flatly. "So what'd you say?"

"You see, right there, that's the problem," Spike started on Angel. "You having to ask me that. I don't play for that side anymore, or haven't you heard?" Spike send gesturing in Buffy's direction. "Besides, even if Mr. Death could do what he promised, I trust him about as much as you trust me."

"What do you want from me?" Angel asked.

"I can't live like this, Angel. Being useless," Spike said. He sighed and went on to say, "Being nothing. I want it to end."

Buffy and Angel sat in silence, looking at Spike for a few moments. Finally Angel stood up and said, "Alright then, you know the drill, hallowed-"

"Yeah, yeah. I got a cemetery in mind," Spike said. He started to walk out of the room as Angel grabbed his coat off a nearby chair and spotted Buffy, still sitting on the bed. "You coming?" he asked her. Spike stopped and turned to face her.

Buffy stared at her hands in her lap for a moment before looking up at Spike. "I don't think I can," she said sadly. "We-we said our goodbyes Spike. I've had my closure. I can't do it again."

Spike looked at her for a beat before nodding and said, "S'okay love. I get it." He looked at her one more time before turning to leave the room.

Angel looked at Buffy and said, "I'll be back soon, okay? Stay here if you want."

Buffy nodded and Angel turned to follow Spike out of the bedroom.

* * *

Angel and Spike walked though a dark and empty cemetery. Spike stopped by a large headstone and said, "Suppose this'll do. Feels hallowed enough."

Angel looked at the amulet he was holding and said, "Sure you want to do this Spike?"

"What, think I could really stand hanging out with you and your lot, now and forever? Wisecracking ghost sidekick. No bloody thanks. Come on. You know as well as I do, it's for the best," Spike told him. Angel picked up a heavy looking urn that was nearby and placed the amulet on the top surface of the grave in between him and Spike. "I'm glad it's you though," Spike told Angel. "Finally doin' me in. Feels right, you being my grandsire and all. Circle of death, eh?"

Angel looked at Spike and said, "Goodbye Spike."

"See you around Angel," Spike replied.

Angel held up the urn, about to crush the amulet with it, but instead hit himself in the head.

"Uh, I think you missed," Spike said. Angel hit himself in the head with the urn again and was then lifted off the ground, frozen in the air. Hainsley stepped out from behind a grave.

"And the dead shall rise!" Hainsley exclaimed. "Just 'cause I say so."

"Hainsley-" Angel started to say.

"Vampire should think twice before messing with a man who wields power over all things lifeless," Hainsley said before letting Angel drop to the ground where he fell, unconscious. "If you ask my advice."

"Took your sweet time stepping in Hainsley," Spike said. "I came this close to getting a one way to the great beyond."

"Relax son, I wasn't going to let anything happen to you. You're the linchpin of my plan," Hainsley said.

"Our plan. And you bloody better hold up your end of it. I'm not gonna be used by you," Spike said.

"Yes, you are," Hainsley said. "But afterwards, I'll give you your reward, just as you asked. I'll put you in the driver's seat of your afterlife. Control. That's all anyone really wants, isn't it?"

* * *

Angel woke up to find himself back at Hainsley's.

"Hello vampire," Hainsley said. "Have a nice nap?" Angel tried to sit up but Hainsley pushed him back down. "Naw, don't get up. You've had a rough day. You know, so have I, thanks to you."

"Yours is about to get a hell of a lot worse," Angel said.

"I don't think so. Me, necromancer. You, dead. You can't lay a finger on me."

"Maybe not. But what do you think the senior partners are gonna do to you when I turn up missing?" Angel asked.

"Oh, you're not going to be missing. You're going to show up to work bright eyed and bushy tailed tomorrow morning, when you'll reverse the seizure of my personal assets and reinstate the Internment Acquisitions Department," Hainsley said.

"And why would I do that?" Angel said.

Spike stepped out of the shadows and said, "Not you. Me. Wearing your body."

"And to think I didn't trust you," Angel said to him.

"Come on Angel," Spike said. "What choice did I have? Bloody exorcism? Letting you and yours banish me to oblivion? No thanks. Necro here's gonna give me my body back…after I take yours for a test drive, fix his little problems. And here's the kicker, I go in, and you go…pfft! Off to never never come back land. And then, yours very truly will be running the show. Your cars, your fancy digs, everything-everyone-I deserve will be mine. Wonder if Buffy will notice the change. Can't wait to have a go at her again."

Angel growled and said, "Shut up."

"You know what? You're right. Enough talk. Let's do this already. I'm itchin' to get physical," Spike said.

Hainsley said to Angel, "I've never installed anyone in a conscious dead body before. I imagine this is going to be extremely painful." He started to chant and stuck his hand in Angel's stomach and then reached his other hand back towards Spike. Spike began to disappear into Hainsley's hand, which had begun to glow orange. The glowing orange ball flowed up Hainsley's arm, into his body, and down his other arm toward Angel, where it suddenly stopped.

Hainsley looked in shock at the orange glow, grunted and said, "What? What are you doing?" The glowing ball had begun to go back up into Hainsley's body where it disappeared.

"Spike, would you mind?" Angel asked.

Hainsley pulled his hand out of Angel and said, "No, no!"

Angel got up off the table and kicked Hainsley across the room. "Can touch you now Hainsley."

Hainsley took control of Angel's body again and threw him across the room. "You think you're clever, eh? But-ughh!-your ghost can't control me for long. I hold the power. I rule the dead," Hainsley said. He then tried to control Angel's body again but it didn't work.

"Not today," Angel said.

Angel and Hainsley began trading blows with one another and Angel eventually threw him into a solid table. Hainsley's head connected with the table and he wasn't down long before he stood up and began to fight with Angel again. Angel grabbed a nearby blade and threw it at Hainsley. The knife sliced Hainsley's head clean off and Spike's head was in its place.

"Oh bollocks," Spike said. Hainsley's body fell with a thud. "I was just getting warmed up."

"That was you hitting me?" Angel asked incredulously.

"The last bit, yeah. Hainsley's been dead since he hit the table," Spike said. Angel just glared at him. "Oh come on, had to get a few licks in, didn't I?"

* * *

"So, Spike came to you with this plan?" Buffy asked. She was sitting on the couch at Angel's while her boyfriend stood in front of her. It was dawn and the sun was just beginning to rise. Angel had just returned from Hainsley's and told Buffy what had happened at the cemetery and afterward.

"More or less," Angel told Buffy, sitting down in a chair opposite her. "Once he learned Hainsley used himself as a conduit for body transfers, our trap fell into place."

"Oh," Buffy said. "Well, it'd be nice if he told the rest of us his little plan." The two sat in silence for a beat before Buffy said, "So, nothing's really changed then. Spike's a ghost and it looks like he'll be around for a while…" Buffy trailed off, seeing Angel looking a little upset. "Hey," she said, leaning forward and holding his hands in her own. "We're gonna be fine, Angel. Spike knows we're together and he'll just have to back off and deal with it. Let's just focus on us, okay?" Angel raised an eyebrow at her. "And running a law firm…and a slayer school…and finding all the slayers out there…and," Buffy added with a smile, "getting your soul bound…"

Angel grinned at her and said, "I like the way you think," before leaning in to press his lips against hers in a quick kiss.

After a moment Buffy pulled away and said, "Mmm, I'd love to stay but God knows what's been going on at the Academy while I've been gone."

She stood up and Angel said, "You sure you don't want to get a few hours of sleep? It's still early."

"Nah, I slept while you were gone, I'll probably just go straight to the office and start getting some work done."

Angel looked at her skeptically but said, "Okay, talk to you later?"

Buffy smiled at him and said, "I'll call you tonight," before walking out of the penthouse.

* * *

Buffy walked into her office at the Academy, sat down behind her desk and began to check her e-mail on her computer. She had gone home to take a quick shower, change into fresh clothes, and grab a cup of coffee but it was still early and there didn't seem to be anyone in the main building yet.

Spike suddenly materialized in Buffy's office and she nearly choked on the sip of coffee she was drinking. "Spike! God, you scared me! How…how are you here?" Buffy asked.

"Just can't leave LA city limits, remember?" Spike said gloomily. "And before you start, I want to say I'm not here to win you back or anything. I know you've only got eyes for Peaches…but I-I need…"

"Spike, what's wrong?" Buffy asked, getting concerned.

"I'm slippin'," Spike said after a beat.

"What?" Buffy asked.

"Don't wanna go, but it's like…It's like the ground underneath me is…splitting open and my legs are…straddling both sides of this bloody big chasm. It's getting wider, pulling me in," Spike told her.

"Is that what happens when you disappear?" Buffy asked, dreading the answer.

"I know what's down there-where it's trying to take me-and it's not the place heroes go. Not by a bloody long shot. It's the other one. Full of fire and torment. And it's happening. And I'm terrified. Help me?"

Buffy stared at Spike, lost for words.

* * *

**Please review!**

**-sailor's delight**


	5. Unleashed

**********Disclaimer: Anything recognizable from _Buffy the Vampire Slayer _and/or _Angel _belongs to the creators of the show and not me. I'm using the characters/ideas for fun and not for profit. The title _"Angels & Demons" _was inspired by the Dan Brown book. Lyrics belong to TV on the Radio. A big thanks to the wonderful website www. twiztv .com for the transcripts.**

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* * *

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**Unleashed**

_**Got a curse we cannot lift**__**  
**__**Shines when the sunshine shifts**__**  
**__**There's a cure comes with a kiss**__**  
**__**The bite that binds, the gift that gives.**_

**-TV on the Radio**

"And what does Angel think about all this?" Willow asked Buffy. The two girls were lounging on the couch at Buffy's condo having a movie night with Xander who was rummaging around in the kitchen for more popcorn. Dawn was spending the night at a friend's house. Buffy was telling Willow about the Spike issue.

"He wants Spike gone. Whether that means making him solid again or releasing him, I'm not sure," Buffy told her.

"And what do _you _want?" Willow asked.

Buffy stared for a moment before answering, "I just want him to be happy." She gave a snort of laughter. "God, that sounds so corny, but it's just awful to see him trapped between two places like this," she said as Xander walked back into the living room with a bowl of fresh popcorn.

"We talkin' about Spike again?" Xander asked as he flopped down in between Willow and Buffy. "No wonder the mood in the room went southbound."

Buffy rolled her eyes at him and Willow said, "Easy Xand, or she's gonna invite Angel over just to piss you off."

"Bring it on ladies. Where is Dead-" Xander stopped as Buffy shot him a glare. "…Angel tonight anyway?"

"With his friends from work. I figured they want some time to themselves since they don't get much of it at the office. And besides, I wanted to hang out with you guys tonight," Buffy said.

"Well then, less talk, more movie," Xander said and picked up the remote off the coffee table and turned on the TV.

* * *

The next morning at the Los Angeles Academy for the Gifted, Buffy, Xander, Willow, Faith, Robin Wood, and Andrew were sitting around a conference table wrapping up a meeting that Giles was leading.

"So we've completed the first step. We have successfully contacted all the slayers from southern California and have the ones that wish to be trained here at the Academy. Willow has plotted all of the locations of the slayers in the country and if no one disagrees I say we start moving our way east," Giles told the group. "Andrew how is your progress on the proposal for the Watcher Recruitment Program?"

"Um, define progress?" Andrew said nervously. He was met with silence from the group. "Right, I'll just go work on that," he said as he gathered his things and left the room.

"And on that note, let's wrap it up," Giles said. "Robin, if you wouldn't mind assisting me in making travel arrangements for contacting the new slayers."

"Not a problem," Robin said, getting up and following Giles out of the room. Buffy, Xander, Willow, and Faith remained in the conference room and were planning on relaxing a few moments before getting back to work.

"Hey Xand, you up to being Mandy's punching bag again?" Faith asked. The others laughed at the memory of the newly trained slayer practicing on Xander.

"Are you kidding me? I've already lost enough body parts this year," he said gesturing to his eye patch.

Buffy's cell phone rang and Faith said, "Tell me that isn't a lawyer calling and I'll stop cursing for a week."

Buffy looked at the caller ID which read "Blocked" and knew who it was. "Just give me a minute alright?" she said and got up from her chair and went to a corner of the room away from everyone else to answer the phone.

"Haven't heard from you in a while," Buffy said.

"Doesn't mean I'm not around," Eve answered smoothly.

"So what's up," Buffy asked, wanted to get to business.

"Damage control. Your boy got himself into a sticky situation. Or should I say hairy, considering he's dealing with werewolves."

"Werewolves?" Buffy asked. The chatter from the others in the conference room silenced and Buffy saw Willow's eyes snap to her face.

"Exactly. And I happen to know that you were friends with one in Sunnydale during high school. We might need someone who's an expert."

Buffy was silent for a moment before saying, "I haven't seen Oz in years." By now she had the full attention of her friends in the conference room.

"And you have no way of contacting him?" Eve said, her voice full of doubt.

Buffy was silent again for a beat. "I'll let you know," she said and hung up.

Willow spoke first. "What about Oz, what do they want with Oz?"

Buffy looked at Willow and after a moment, "Apparently Angel needs some help with werewolves. That was Eve. They want someone who's an expert."

"Well I can help," Willow said immediately.

Buffy was about to protest but Xander beat her to it. "No, no no," he said. "It's bad enough they got Buffy, they are not getting you too, Will."

"They've already got all of us Xander," Buffy said. "Who do you think build this place?" she said gesturing around her. "We are literally inside them."

"I want to help, Xander," Willow said, her resolve face making an appearance. "I know about werewolves. I get them, okay?" she added on a softer note.

Xander was tense for a moment before saying, "Fine. But they better be upgrading our flat screens or something after this."

Buffy nodded at Willow and said, "I'll let her know." She left the room, leaned against the wall in the hallway and pressed redial on her phone.

"Knew you'd call me back," Eve said.

"We'll help you," Buffy said to her.

"You and Oz?"

"I can't get you Oz, but I can give you the next best thing," Buffy said.

"And who might that be," Eve asked.

"The girl who dated him."

* * *

Fred was busily working in her office at Wolfram and Hart when Spike appeared out of thin air.

"Well, aren't we the busy little beaver," Spike said.

Fred, who didn't even get startled at his appearance anymore said, "Hi Spike".

"I don't suppose all this bugaboo's about yours ghostly."

"What? No, not you. It's-"

"Werewolf girl. Right. Heard about that. Bloody shame about the poor little miss, but-"

"Spike," Fred said to him, "I'm sorry, but I'm kind of busy right now with the situation." She gathered up her papers and walked towards the door.

"Hey, I'm a situation, remember?" Spike said following her. "I'm a bloody phantom. And you and your serious girl spectacles were gonna help me with my bloody little problem."

"I-bloody…what?" Fred asked, confused.

Spike sighed and said, "Buffy told me you were the one that could help me."

"Help you with what?" Fred asked, confused.

"My winking out of existence," Spike said. "And I'm not talking about quick pops to the netherworld. They're lasting longer now."

Fred started at Spike and finally said, "How long?"

"Feels like forever," he said walking closer to her. "Look, something's trying to hold onto me…on the other side. If you don't do something soon, one of these times…I may not come back."

"Wesley might be able to-" Fred started, but Spike cut her off.

"No!"

"Look, I know Buffy told you to come to me, but he knows more about the mystical than-" Fred started again.

"I can't," Spike said, walking away. "We got a history, him and me."

"What?" Fred asked.

"It was a long time ago. He was a young watcher, fresh out of the academy, when we crossed paths. It was a, what-you-call, battle of wills…and blood was spilled. Vendettas were sworn. It was a whole-"

"My God," Fred interrupted him. "You're so full of crap."

"Yeah, okay. Truth is I just don't want anyone else to know about my condition, right? I trust Buffy, but last thing I need is this getting back to Angel," Spike said.

"Spike," Fred said, "I appreciate your condition but right now we have a more pressing priority. Like finding and helping this girl."

"And me, I'm just left to fade into nothingness," Spike said.

Fred shook her head at him and said, "There's no need to be dramatic. Look, just try not to disappear, and we'll figure it out eventually. This place? We have access to everything."

* * *

"We're useless. Is that what you're trying to tell me?" Angel said angrily as he paced the lab. Fred, Wesley, and Gunn were working hard to try and figure out who the mysterious girl was. "All these resources…"

"We're doing everything we can," Wes said.

"Two years of history on a dead guy and we can't get one lead on a living, breathing girl," Angel said.

"Fingerprints," Fred said, explaining why they had information on the man and not the woman. "Have his, don't have hers."

"There must be something from the attack scene," Angel said.

"So far, not even an earring," Wes told him right before Spike appeared.

"Bloody shame, letting the girl run off like that. Somebody's slipping," Spike said.

Angel ignored him and handed a sketch of the woman to a lab technician. "I want people on the street with this in fifteen minutes. You find anybody who's seen her, you let me know," he told the tech. Angel turned to Fred and asked, "Tire prints?"

"I'm working on it. It takes time, Angel," she told him.

Wes said, "Psychics are working on traces of the girl's blood. They picked up images, imprints." He handed a sketch of a room to Angel.

"Must be her bedroom," he said looking at the sketch. "Can they make it clearer? Maybe they could-"

"It's not like a photograph," Wesley said.

Buffy and Willow walked into the lab and everyone was so busy that no one seemed to notice them. Buffy announced their presence by saying, "Look who I brought."

Angel, Wesley, Fred, and Gunn looked at them. "Buffy," Wesley said in greeting. "And Willow," he added, noticing the redhead. Realization dawned on his face. "Brilliant idea, Willow knows a great deal about werewolves," he said.

The two women walked further into the lab and saw the deceased man lying on a table being inspected by someone unfamiliar. The others joined them around the table.

Buffy stood next to Angel and said to him, "Hey. Haven't heard from you."

"Yeah, I've been busy," he said looking at the dead man. Buffy stared at her boyfriend for a moment but then turned her attention to the unfamiliar man when he spoke.

"Pretty rare breed you've got here," the man said.

"Dr. Royce is the cryptozoologist on my staff. I brought him in to tell us what we'll be dealing with when we find the girl," Wesley said.

"The girl you found him attacking, right?" Willow asked to clarify.

"Correct," Wesley said.

"_Lycanthropus exterus_. Undocumented in North America. Until now obviously," Dr. Royce said.

"How is it different from a standard werewolf?" Willow asked.

"Oh, biped for one thing. Walks upright. Canines are a bit longer than normal. Arm span is-"

Angel cut off Dr. Royce and said, "I don't care about that. All I care about is the girl."

"That's rough," Spike said. "'Cause here on out, she's in the kill or be killed club."

"Here on out, she's under my protection," Angel said.

"If you find her before she turns. Catch her after she goes all growly, won't be easy taking her out. I had a wee spat with a werewolf myself once. Fought for over an hour. Brutal, vicious," Spike said. He held up his hand and wiggled his fingers. "Almost lost my-"

"Angel killed him with a pen," Fred said cutting him off.

"What?" Willow asked, looking at Angel.

Angel looked to Willow and softened. He said, "Willow, I'm sorry, but he was attacking this woman, there was-there was nothing else I could do."

Willow looked shocked and said, "He could have been anyone. He could have been…" Willow seemed lost in her thoughts. Buffy knew she had been about to say that the man could have been Oz. "Let's just help this woman he bit," Willow said finally.

* * *

Later that day, Lorne had joined the group in the lab and Fred was showing him some tire prints on her computer.

"Those fine lines? Bad for the car, good for us," Fred said. "Apparently, the mean old tires, at least five years."

"Nice sketch," Gunn said walking up to Angel. "Somebody saw your girl last night. East Hollywood."

"All right," Angel said. "We're looking for a mid-size sedan, at least five years old, somewhere in the Hollywood area."

"Tick-tock, tick-tock. The moon's a-risin' ladies and gents," Spike said.

"I'm in the DMV database, but there are thousands of possible matches," Wesley said from his spot at a computer.

"Okay, if I had been slammed around by a werewolf, I'd put pedal to the metal," Buffy said. "I mean, red light, green light…same diff."

"Traffic cameras," Willow said. "You guys networked?"

"Yep," Wes said.

Willow sat at a computer and started typing and clicking. "Okay, I'm looking at the cameras now."

Gunn looked over her shoulder and said, "You guys get set to run with it if she finds a match. 'Course I might leak the info to the senior partners, 'cause we're tight."

"Just do it," Wes said.

"Is the van ready?" Angel asked.

"Yep, I triple checked," Buffy told him.

"Good, 'cause we got less than an hour," Angel said.

Spike leaned over to Fred and said, "A lot of fuss over one girl. Other things to do around here-important things…"

Angel said to Spike, "You know that woosh thing that you do when you're suddenly not there anymore? I love that."

Before Spike could respond Willow said, "10:19 last night, 1992 Honda Civic ran a red light at Western and Franklin. Blonde woman." She handed a printout to Angel.

"That's her," he said.

"License number: 2ABM-543," Willow added.

Still looking over her shoulder Gunn said, "Address: 2315 Harvard. Name: Nina Ash."

* * *

Something strange was happening to Nina Ash. One minute she felt sick in her bedroom, and the next she was on the floor, watching her hand grow fur and turn into a paw. The fur spread to the rest of her body and then the transformation was complete. She growled at the door from where she could hear her young niece calling to her.

"Hey doggy," came a voice from the window. Nina turned to face Angel who said, "Come and get it."

Nina lunged at him and he pulled her out of the house. They rolled off the roof and fell with a thud to the ground where they wrestled for a bit. Willow stepped forward out of the shadows holding a tranquilizer gun. Buffy was behind her, ready to step in at any moment. Willow shot the gun and the tranquilizer dart hit Nina's body.

"Nice shot," Angel said to Willow.

Willow shrugged and said a little breathlessly, "Yeah, I was always pretty good at it."

"Definitely one of the top ten things you learned in high school," Buffy said.

* * *

Back at Wolfram and Hart, Nina woke up in a prison cell. She was naked and slightly banged up. "Oh, God," she said, looking around. She noticed a pile of clothes on the ground and she grabbed them and hastily put them on. Nina gasped as she saw Angel walk up to the cell, unlock the door and walk inside.

Nina backed into and corner and said, "What…who are you?"

"It's okay," Angel said calmly. "My name's Angel. You're safe now."

"Safe?" Nina asked. "Oh, well…great. That's…" She bolted for the door but Angel stopped her. "Get off me! Let go of me! Help me, somebody!" she screamed.

"What I'm trying to do, Nina, is help you," Angel tried to explain.

"Said the psycho rapist," Nina said. "How do you know my name? What do you want with me?"

"I want you to see something," Angel told her.

* * *

Angel, Buffy, and Willow were surrounding Nina as she viewed a video on a laptop in Angel's office. There was the image of a werewolf pacing a prison cell on the screen.

Nina looked at it in confusion. "I don't…what am I supposed to be looking-God, what is that?" she asked.

"You don't remember?" Angel asked her.

"Remember?"

"Two nights ago you were attacked…in the woods. You were jogging," Angel said.

"Jogging. Wait, yeah, I remember that, I…that thing attacked me," Nina said.

"Not exactly," Angel said. "I was in the area, I heard screams, but by the time I got there…"

"That was you. Yeah, I remember you…you saved me," Nina said.

"I was too late," Angel told her.

On the video monitor the werewolf collapsed and transformed into Nina.

"Oh my God," Nina said.

Willow gently told her, "It was a werewolf Nina, and you were bitten."

"No. This is insane," Nina said.

"The bite already started a process," Willow told her. "You may have already started to feel the effects. Distorted vision, heightened senses…"

"Blood," Nina said. "Jill, my sister, she was cooking meat. Oh, my God. I…I smelled the blood. It was making me…oh God, Amanda, my niece."

"She's okay, and so is your sister," Angel said.

"No you don't get it," Nina said.

"Nina, it's okay," Willow offered.

"No it's not!" Nina insisted.

"You didn't-" Willow said.

"I wanted to rip her throat out!" Nina said loudly. She sighed and ran her fingers through her hair, agitated, and walked towards the window.

"It wasn't you. It was that thing inside," Buffy said.

"Oh, like there's a difference?" Nina asked.

"There is, a big one," Angel said. "I know this is a lot to take-"

"Don't tell me what you know," Nina told him angrily. "You didn't wake up and find out you're a…monster. You don't know anything."

"I'm not a werewolf like you, but I-I know what it's like. I'm a monster too," Angel said.

"So what, you're like a Frankenstein?" Nina asked sarcastically.

"What? No!" Angel said. "I'm…I'm a vampire."

"Vampire."

"But I have a soul. I'm-I'm not evil, and neither are you," Angel said.

"But vampires kill people, and they-"

"Can control themselves if they want to. I do it every day, and so can you. I'll help," Angel said.

"Can you…cure me?" Nina asked. Buffy didn't like the pleading, damsel in distress look on Nina's face.

"No, but I can keep you safe," Angel said.

Nina stared down at her hands and looked overwhelmed by all this information. Willow whispered to Buffy and Angel, "I'll stay with her, you guys go ahead." They nodded and left the office and into the lobby to see Fred and Dr. Royce.

"How's she doing?" Fred asked.

"Oh, agreed to stay in the holding cell tonight, but she's pretty scared. So, what do we do now?" Angel asked.

Spike appeared from down the hallway and said, "We wait for the show. Should be a good one. Everyone on pins and needles, dreading the moonrise, then pop goes the werewolf."

Angel turned away and Buffy, Fred, and Dr. Royce followed him. "I can't stop what's gonna happen," Angel said. "But I can keep her from getting hurt."

"The first few transformations are the worst. Werewolf's strength combined with the disorientation and fear…" Dr. Royce said.

"You mean she could hurt herself?" Fred asked.

"Oh, I've seen 'em bang their heads against walls, claw at their own skin," Dr. Royce said.

"We could tranq her, let her sleep through it?" Buffy offered.

"Well, that could work for tonight, but uh, over the long haul, bad idea," Royce said.

"Well there has to be something," Fred said.

"They like familiar scents, images. Maybe if you took her home, let her get a few things, could have a calming effect," Royce said.

"Fetching her blanky's not gonna make a bloody bit of difference," Spike said.

"Spike, really not helping," Buffy told him.

"I'm just saying, the girl's a killer. Maybe not tonight or tomorrow, but she will get out of that cage," Spike said.

"Not if she doesn't want to," Angel said.

"Oh, she'll want to," Dr. Royce told them. "It's unfortunate, but…"

"And when it's not that time of the month? She'll be wracked by the guilties. What with a soul and all," Spike said.

"Didn't seem to bother you," Angel retorted. Buffy shot him a look.

"Oh, it's been nothing but a pain in my…" Spike began, but he faded out and disappeared.

"Finally," Angel said. "I'll take Nina by her house."

"Uh, Angel, it's the middle of the day," Buffy told him. "Unless you plan on waiting in the car…"

"Fine, you and Fred take security. In case she changes her mind," Angel said.

Buffy looked a little hurt at his cold tone but said to Fred, "Take Willow, she's with Nina in Angel's office. I have to check my e-mail and make a few phone calls."

* * *

Fred, Willow, and Nina were riding in a van, surrounded by security guards. Nina looked around warily and said, "So, the entourage. All this for me?"

"Um, no…yeah, kind of. I mean, it's just in case you, you know…" Fred said, stumbling on her words.

"Run away," Nina said.

Fred looked to Willow to help her out. "It's not like you're a prisoner," Willow said. "You're totally not. It's just…really important that you stay with us tonight."

"This is just so…I should be in ceramic's class right now. We're learning raku. Seems like somebody else's life," Nina said.

"Nina, it's just three nights a month, not even days. Your life doesn't have to change…much," Willow said.

"How would you-you're not a monster too are you?" Nina asked.

"Me? No, I'm a Wiccan. But I dated a werewolf once, and he led a relatively normal life. He was in a band," Willow said with a slight smile.

"What about you, are you some kind of…" Nina started, looking at Fred.

"Standard-issue science nerd," Fred finished for her. "I did spend five years in a demon dimension…till Angel saved me."

"Guess he saves a lot of girls, huh?" Nina asked.

"Girls, guys…puppies. He's pretty much an equal opportunity saver," Fred said.

"So you two are like a couple?" Nina asked.

"Me and Angel? Oh, no…no," Fred said.

Nina looked at Willow who shrugged and said, "I'm a lesbian. Angel's dating Buffy. The blonde one you met back at the office."

"Oh, right," Nina said. "Got it."

* * *

Back at Wolfram and Hart, Gunn sat behind his desk and watched as Angel signed a paper on it. Angel then sat down in a chair and stared into the distance.

"You sign this, we're set to turn McManus' body over to his family. They've made arrangements to transport his body back to…" Gunn noticed Angel wasn't paying attention and said, "The North Pole. Turns out he had a close personal relationship with Santa. Angel?"

"What? Uh, I'm with you. Turning over the…Santa?" Angel said.

"Angel, you saved that girl's life," Gunn said standing up. "If you hadn't gotten there when you did-"

Angel cut him off and said, "The werewolf would have killed her. I know. Doesn't change what she's gonna have to go though."

"Well that part sucks, no doubt, but…you did everything you could," Gunn told him.

"You know what Gunn? Don't need a pep talk right now," Angel snapped at him. "Just do your job."

"Right, I'll just go do that…someplace else," Gunn said, leaving his office.

Lorne was passing by and walked in. "Woah! Watch it there! Just passing by and got splashed with a heap of grouchy. Got to tell you, Angelkins, that extra weight is not looking so good on you," Lorne said. Angel looked down at his stomach. "I'm talking about psychic pounds, pumpkin. Why don't you consider me the Jenny Craig for the soul, huh? Let's hear it."

"I'm not gonna sing," Angel told him.

"Couldn't bear it if you did. No, it's talking you need…or maybe a shoulder to-"

"I'm not gonna cry either," Angel said.

"I was going to a leaning place. Okay, Atlas, how about a shrug? Look, so you got the weight of the world," Lorne said. "It's a burden, sure, but breaking news it ain't."

"Listen Lorne, this isn't a good time," Angel started.

"No, no it never is. Spike showing up your first day in the Wolfram and Hart saddle took the jolly right out of the rancher. We've been feeling it ever since, Angelcakes. Especially your blonde beauty, Buffy," Lorne said.

Angel looked up at Lorne questioningly, who chuckled at him. "Oh don't give me that look, I can read you two like a cheesy romantic novel and let me tell you, the newest chapter has been less hot and more bothered."

Angel looked irritated at Lorne and said, "Well, it's no secret I don't like Spike."

"Like him, don't like him-that's up to you. You're fighting so many enemies around you Angel, your punches are getting sloppy. And we've got the bruises to prove it, and so does your girl. We're operating in unfriendly territory champ. I don't want you to forget about the people covering your back."

* * *

Angel peered into the small office that Buffy sometimes used when she needed one while at Wolfram and Hart. She was busily typing away on the computer, her mouth slightly parted. A strand of golden hair fell into her face and Angel hesitated before knocking on the doorframe. Buffy pushed the hair out of her face and looked up at him expectantly.

"What's up?" she asked.

Angel waited a beat before saying, "I-I'm sorry."

Buffy looked confused. "For what?" she asked.

Angel walked further into the office and said, "You know for what. I've been moody and…ignoring us…"

Buffy regarded him for a moment before saying, "Well, you've got a lot on your mind."

Angel sat down in a chair across from her desk and said, "Yeah but that's no excuse to…act like I have been the past few days." Angel leaned forward in his chair and said, "I mean, I finally have you back in my life, and I-I'm so grateful, and I can't throw that away because I…missed a date because I was on a conference call." Buffy gave him a small smile and Angel continued. "So that's why I'm going to take you out…to dinner."

Buffy's eyes lit up and she grinned at him and said, "A real date, huh? Aren't you like, six years late on that?"

Angel chuckled and said, "I'll pay interest, I swear." Buffy laughed and Angel said, "So tomorrow night, so the full moon cycle will be over, and this business with Nina will be wrapped up for the time being."

At his words, Buffy's smile slowly disappeared and she said, "Nina, right. She totally has a crush on you."

"What?" Angel asked, his brows furrowed in confusion.

Buffy laughed and said, "My God Angel, you are so oblivious sometimes. Come on…big handsome man…"

"Save me from the monsters…" Angel whispered, thinking of another girl he once saved. "Oh," Angel said. "She does have a crush on me."

"Exactly," Buffy said.

"Hey," Angel said. "I will make it perfectly clear to her _that_ can't happen. You're not the only one that gets jealous."

Buffy smiled but before she could say anything Gunn burst into the room, slightly out of breath and said, "Royce lied. Fred and Willow just got back. Nina was taken."

* * *

Angel slammed Dr. Royce against the wall of his office and said in a loud voice, "Where is she?"

"I don't know what you're-" Dr. Royce started to say before Angel interrupted him.

"Wrong answer!" Angel shoved Royce against his desk. Buffy stood watching behind Angel, her arms crossed. Gunn had gone back to Royce's office to look through more of his things with Fred, Wesley, and Willow.

"But it's a secret! If I tell you, this man, he's not like you. You're a good guy, but he's a… well, no offense, but he's scarier than you," Royce said.

Angel leaned down close to Royce's face, fully vamped out, growled and said, "Wanna bet?"

* * *

Angel and Buffy left his office and ran into Fred, Wesley, Gunn, and Willow in the lobby.

"We know where she is," Angel said to them.

Fred handed him a sheet of paper from Royce's desk and said, "Angel we found…it's what they plan to do to her."

Angel and Buffy glanced the paper over. Stunned, Buffy looked to Willow and said, "It's a menu."

Buffy saw an anger in Willow's eyes that she had not seen in a couple of years and said, "I wanna get this creep."

* * *

Angel, Buffy, Gunn, Wesley, Willow and a reluctant Dr. Royce arrived at a large mansion. After finding a way in, they found the banquet hall with ease. Angel turned to Royce and said, "How do we get in?" When Royce hesitated, Angel growled and Royce stepped forward with a shudder and knocked on the wood paneled door. A small opening appeared and Royce looked into it. The doors then opened to reveal a waiter, whom Gunn promptly knocked out with a swift punch. They all walked into the banquet hall.

"I'm all up in the law now, but damn it feels good to get my violence on," Gunn exclaimed.

"Crane's not gonna like this…" Royce said.

"If I were you, I'd just be hoping the girl's alive," Angel said to him.

"She has to be," Wesley said. "At least through dinner. Once a werewolf dies, it reverts back to its human state."

"You mean, to eat a werewolf, they have to eat her alive?" Willow asked, horror in her voice.

Crane, who seemed to be the maitre d' of the dinner said to Royce, "Evan, you've brought guests."

"We're just here to pick up a friend," Angel said. Buffy whipped out a shotgun and pointed it at Crane. Angel grabbed a silver platter and knocked out the chef with it. Willow walked up to Nina who was bound and gagged on a cart, with fancy vegetables garnishing her.

"Jesus, they garnished you?" Willow asked as she untied the gag.

"No, get away!" Nina exclaimed. "Just let them choke on me!"

Angel saw Willow struggling with Nina's cuffs and he grabbed a metal urn and used it to break them open.

"Listen to me, tomorrow you're gonna be home," Willow said, trying to calm her down.

"This is what I am. I can't go back there, ever. This is better," Nina said.

"Nothing better about ending up in a doggy bag," Angel said.

Buffy, who was still holding Crane at gunpoint glanced over the menu and said, "What, no leprechaun soufflé?"

"There's no such thing as leprechauns," Crane said. Others in the room snuck up behind Buffy, Wesley, and Gunn and pointed loaded weapons at them.

Wesley said to Angel, "We've hit a snag."

"We're not leaving without the girl," Angel said.

"I'm willing to let my men die. Can you say the same?" Crane asked.

"I go, you're going with me," Buffy said to Crane.

"It's a risk, what can I say?" Crane said.

"Probably should have told me to drop this," Angel said to Buffy, referring to the urn he was still holding. Angel threw the urn in the air and punched Crane. One of the men shot at Angel, causing him to stumble for a moment. In the midst of the chaos, Nina made the transformation into a werewolf. She growled and lunged at the dinner guests, biting and tearing a man's throat out.

Buffy aimed her shotgun at Nina and hesitated. In that moment, Nina lunged at Buffy and knocked her down but before she could sink her teeth into Buffy's skin, Willow grabbed a tranq gun from Wesley and shot Nina with a dart, knocking her out cold.

Buffy sighed and said to Willow, "Okay, from now on, you're tranq girl." Willow smiled and held out a hand to help Buffy up.

"This is the part where we take our friend and go," Angel said to Crane.

"I'm afraid not," Crane said. "Tonight may not be salvageable, but my guests have paid a high price…some higher than others. And I promised them a werewolf."

Nina suddenly sprung to life and bit Dr. Royce's leg, who screamed in pain.

Angel shrugged and said, "And in a month from now, you'll have one."

Royce looked around at Crane's men who were closing in on him and said, "No, no. Mr. Crane, please, no! Please don't do this to me, Mr. Crane!" The men dragged him out of the room.

* * *

The next day, Angel drove his car up to the sidewalk outside Nina's house and stopped. "This is it," he said.

Nina watched her niece drawing in chalk on the sidewalk and said, "She's a really good artist."

"Oh, well my refrigerator's always available if she's looking to show," Angel said. Nina looked over at him and smirked. Angel looked taken aback and said, "Look, Nina…"

"I know you and Buffy are dating," Nina said.

"Oh," Angel said letting out a breath. "You do."

"The redhead, uh…Willow told me," Nina said. "It's fine. I promise I won't get in your way. I'll just be that chick that just hangs out in the cage in your basement for three nights a month. Except that sounds dirty…which it won't be."

They sat in silence for a moment before Nina asked, "How do you live with it? Knowing that you've…killed people?"

"Nina, they were going to eat you for dinner," Angel stated.

"I just wanna wake up, you know?" Nina told him.

"At some point you'll be at the grocery store or with Amanda, and the whole werewolf thing, it'll just be a part of who you are."

"Next you're gonna tell me you actually like being a vampire," Nina said.

"Well, being nearly indestructible is cool," Angel said.

Nina stared off into space and said, "I can't tell them."

"Maybe, maybe not," Angel said. "That part's not covered in the manual. They're waiting for you."

"You don't ever think about letting go, disappearing somewhere?" Nina asked.

"Look," Angel said. "If you separate yourself from the ones you love, the monster wins."

"You make it sound simple."

"Well, it's not."

Nina paused before saying, "See you next month." She got out of the car and walked up to Jill and Amanda who were in the driveway and gave them a hug. Angel watched them for a moment before driving away.

* * *

Buffy looked herself over once more in the mirror before turning to leave the bathroom. She grabbed a small handbag from her bedroom before descending the stairs into the living room. Dawn and Xander were on the couch, playing a video game on the large TV. Xander turned to look at her and did a double take, his eyes lingering on her, causing his video game go-kart to veer off the track and crash.

"Hah! I win again! And don't give me that lame 'I'm disabled' line again, Xander," Dawn said triumphantly. "Xand?" she asked again when he didn't respond. Dawn turned and saw Buffy standing at the base of the stairs. "Oh Buffy, you look great! The black dress is definitely better than the red one. Shows off your tan."

"Yeah, if Angel had breath, you'd take it away," Xander said.

Buffy sighed and said, "I'm going to take that as a compliment and ignore the rest." There was a knock at the door and Buffy said, "Alright, I gotta go. Xander thanks for watching Dawn."

Buffy made her way towards the door and opened it as Dawn said indignantly, "Hey! I don't need 'watching'!"

"Yes, you do," Buffy said. She turned to face Angel standing in the doorway and smiled when he looked her up and down. "Hi, let's go," she said as she grabbed his hand and tugged him towards his car.

"Eager much?" Angel said, a little surprised.

Buffy bit back the urge to say _you have no idea_ and just smirked at him instead. Suggestive comments like that could wait until Angel's soul was bound. Man, she really had to talk to Willow about that in the morning.

* * *

**A/N: Well now that I'm settled in school hopefully I will be updating more. Hope you guys like this one! Reviews are always appreciated and loved.**

**-sailor's delight**


	6. Hellbound

**************Disclaimer: Anything recognizable from _Buffy the Vampire Slayer _and/or _Angel _belongs to the creators of the show and not me. I'm using the characters/ideas for fun and not for profit. The title _"Angels & Demons" _was inspired by the Dan Brown book. Lyrics belong to Third Eye Blind. A big thanks to the wonderful website www. twiztv .com for the transcripts.**

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* * *

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**Hellbound**

**_And death slides close to me, won't grow old to be_**

**_A junkie wino creep._**

**_Hollywood glamorized my wrath,_**

**_I'm a young urban psychopath_**

**_I incite murder, for your entertainment_**

**_'Cause I needed the money, what's your excuse?_**

**_The joke's on you._**

**-Third Eye Blind**

Angel sat at his desk and looked at Fred, who was sitting across from him in a chair. Angel cleared his throat and started saying, "Um, I know it's been difficult going from a small detective agency to running Wolfram and Hart. And we've been adjusting, but…"

"It's okay," Fred said. "Wes just gave me the talk. And I'm going to have a good meal and at least six hours of sleep, so everybody can just stop worrying. I'm fine. Really."

"Good, that's…" Angel said. He glanced sideways at Eve, who was standing next to his desk. "Actually, there's been some concern about how much the Practical Science Department's been spending."

"Oh, um…yeah," Fred said. "I guess I may have gone over my projections by a few-"

"$800,000," Eve said, interrupting her. "That's how much you've exceeded your quarterly budget. And the quarter ain't over yet sweetie."

"Look, I-I know it sounds like…I mean it is a lot of money, but I-I'm trying to do something that's never been done before. So, yeah, attempting to recorporealize Spike is gonna cost-"

"Woah!" Angel said, holding up his hands and cutting her off. "Trying to do what?"

"Well, actually he went to Buffy first but she told him to ask me. But still, you did ask," Fred said.

Angel looked at her, confusion on his face. "Uh, no, what I asked for was for you to try and find a way to get Spike out of Wolfram and Hart," Angel said.

"Angel," Fred said as she stood up. "We accepted the offer to take over the LA branch of an evil, multi-dimensional law firm because we thought we could make a difference. Use the resources of Wolfram and Hart to do something decent."

"And how does that have anything to do with Spike?" Angel asked.

"He just saved the world. Vampire with a soul fighting for the good of humanity. Ring anything? He's just like you, a champion," Fred said.

Angel angrily crossed his arms and said, "God, I really hate that word."

"Think of what an asset he'd be fighting on our side," Fred said.

"Except he won't be," Angel retorted. "I know Spike better than anyone, and he only cares about himself."

"And Buffy," Fred said.

Angel shot her a glare and Eve said, "Well, this is getting interesting."

Angel rolled his eyes and said, "You're right, he does care about Buffy. So, who do you think he's gonna run off to as soon as his fresh, new feet hit the ground?"

"Is that what this is about?" Fred asked. "You're afraid he's gonna try and get with your girlfriend? Your faithful girlfriend who has told you over and over that she's never going to want Spike?"

"How do you know…" Angel asked, puzzled.

"We're girls, we talk," Fred said.

Angel sighed and said, "The point is, I just want you to be careful, Fred, because I know how charming Spike can be."

"He is quite the dish, with those eyes…" Eve said.

"And the hair and the cheeks and-what do you think I am, stupid? I know he's been playing me with the looks and the smiles. I'm not some idiot schoolgirl with a crush," Fred said.

"Then what is it?" Angel asked.

"It's about doing what's right. Remember?"

"Your department. Your call. Just don't be disappointed if it doesn't work. Some people can't be saved."

* * *

Later that night, Angel ascended the elevator to his penthouse. He stepped off to find Spike standing there, waiting for him.

"So what's on the 'genda?" Spike asked casually. "Rousting a nest of venomous retirement plans?"

Angel ignored the comment and poured himself a glass of blood. "Shop's closed, Spike. Come back and haunt me tomorrow."

"Air's too rarefied up here for my taste anyhow. Down with the dregs is where I belong, isn't it?" Spike said.

"And yet, he's still here…" Angel said as he walked over to the large window and looked out at the city lights.

"Where's your girl tonight?" Spike asked. When Angel shot him a glare Spike added, "Just curious."

"Patrolling with some new slayers," Angel said as he looked away from Spike and out the window again.

"Really is something, what's she's doin' over there at that school," Spike said. When Angel just continued to look out the window in thought, Spike continued and said, "Look, I just thought we could hang is all. Couple of vampires from the old days, doing our…hangy thing."

"You're starting to feel it, aren't you?" Angel said. "How close you are now, to hell."

"What if I am? Not like it's such a big, bleeding deal, is it? If a ponce like you could break out-"

"I never escaped from hell," Angel said, interrupting him. "All I got was a short reprieve. Not even sure how I managed that."

"Oh, put your martyr away, Mahatma. Fred told me all about your great shining prophecy. Pile up all your good deeds and the big brass ring handed to you like everything else," Spike said.

Angel turned to face him and said, "Except for one small catch. The prophecy's a bunch of bull. They all are. Nothing's written in stone, or fated to happen, Spike. You save the world, you end up running an evil law firm."

"Or playin' Casper with one foot in the fryer," Spike said.

Angel walked closer to Spike circling him and said, "You think any of it matters? The things we did? The lives we destroyed? That's all that's ever gonna count. So yeah, surprise. You're going to hell. We both are." Angel sat on the couch, still holding his glass of blood.

"Then why even bother?" Spike asked. "Try to do the right thing, make a difference…"

"What else are we gonna do?" Angel said.

"So that's it then. I really am going to burn," Spike said.

"Welcome to the club."

Spike sat on the couch next to Angel and said, "Least I got company, eh? You and me together again. Hope and Crosby. Stills and Nash. Chico and the-"

"Yeah, are we done?" Angel said.

"Never much for small talk, were you?" Spike asked. "Always too busy trying to perfect that brooding block-of-wood mystique. God, I love that."

"Not as much as I loved your nonstop yammering," Angel said.

"The way you always had to be the big swingy, swaggerin' around, barkin' orders…" Spike said.

"Never listening…"

"Always interrupting…"

"And your hair," Angel said. "What color do they call that, radioactive?"

"Never much cared for you Liam, even when we were evil," Spike said.

"Cared for you less."

"Fine."

"Good." Angel paused a beat and then said, "There was one thing about you…"

"Really?" Spike asked.

"Yeah, I never told anybody about this, but I…I liked your poems," Angel said.

Spike frowned at him and said, "You like Barry Manilow." Spike then saw something that distracted him. He started at a man hanging from the ceiling.

"What is it?" Angel asked, seeing Spike staring at something.

"Don't you see it?" Spike asked.

"See what?" Angel said, confused.

"Nothing," Spike said. "Too much talk of fire and brimstone." He then spotted the hanging man standing behind Angel.

"What?" Angel asked, still very confused.

* * *

Downstairs in Angel stood in the lobby with Wesley and Fred, watching a very anxious and agitated Spike pace.

"Right now?" Angel asked him.

"Yes, right now. Right here," Spike said. He then spoke to something in the room that the others could not see. "Piss off! I'm trying to have a conversation here! Shut up!"

Wesley said to Angel, "Who's he talking to?"

"Ghosts," Angel said.

"Where?" Fred asked.

"Everywhere," Spike said. "The blighters are coming out of the woodwork!" He then turned to something, a ghost, beside him and said, "No, I am not talking to you! Go away!"

Gunn and Eve came into the lobby and Gunn said, "We just checked with security."

Eve said, "They do hourly sweeps with the mystics to secure against spectral intrusion."

"So how many are we dealing with?" Angel asked.

"None," Gunn said. "Last sweep was ten minutes ago. Spike's the only non-corporeal in the building."

"Check again," Spike said as an armless ghost walked past him.

"Maybe we should go back to the lab-" Fred started to say.

"No, I'm telling you, they're here," Spike said as he started to see ghosts all around him. "You have to check again. Something's happening-"

"I'm calling Buffy," Angel said and started to walk towards his desk when Spike turned to Fred.

"Fred, please, you have to use that perfect brain of yours and get me the hell out of here," Spike said to her before he faded away and disappeared.

"Spike?" Fred asked.

"Where'd he go?" Eve asked.

"It's okay, he does this sometimes," Angel said.

"Does what?" Spike asked. He didn't understand what they were talking about.

"We should spread out, see if we can find him. We just need to find him," Fred said. "Angel, probably a good idea to call Buffy."

Angel nodded and to his office as the others left the lobby.

"What are you going on about? I haven't gone anywhere!" Spike said. The others could not see or hear him. "Fred? I'm here. I'm-I'm still here! Fred!" Fred left after the others, not aware of Spike's presence.

* * *

Buffy opened the door to Fred's laboratory and walked in, seeing the brunette busily doing complicated equations.

"Carry the quotient load across the remainder…support the imbalance with Lumirea's fourth constant…" Fred said to herself. Buffy watched her for a moment, unsure if she should interrupt. "I knew it," Fred said, looking at her papers. "Damn I'm good!" she exclaimed.

"You are?" Buffy asked. Fred jumped, startled and turned to face Buffy. "Sorry, didn't mean to scare you."

"No it's okay, I've been a little jumpy lately anyways," Fred said. "So you heard what's going on?"

"Yeah, Angel filled me in. He and Eve sent me here," Buffy said a little annoyed as she hopped up on one of the counters next to Fred and sat there. "Says no one should be alone in the building till we know what's going on. Ghosts can really mess with your head. So you were saying that you were 'good'?" Buffy asked.

"Oh, right!" Fred said, turning back to her papers. "A fricken' genius! If I just cancel out the radical…which causes a feedback wave that liquefies half of Los Angeles."

"What?" Buffy asked, peering at the equations.

"Oh, I'll never figure this out!" Fred said.

"Sure you will, Fred," Buffy said. "This is the closest anyone's gotten to-" Buffy gasped as a spark of something shocked her shoulder and made her jump. Buffy looked around and said tentatively, "Spike?"

"What?" Fred asked confused.

"I just felt something touch me," Buffy told her as she slid off the counter and looked around the room. "Spike, if it's you, give us some sort of-" Buffy jumped again when she saw Angel standing there suddenly. "I thought I told you to stop doing that!"

"Sorry, I just wanted to let you know-" Angel started.

"Angel, something was here," Buffy said to him. "It-it touched me. I think maybe it was-"

"Buffy, we did another sweep with the mystics. They didn't find anything," Angel told her.

"Screw the mystics, Angel," Buffy said. "I know what I felt. We have to find a way to contact him before he's really gone."

* * *

Angel, Buffy, Wesley, Gunn, and Fred sat around the conference table and Wesley said, "Perhaps we should reconsider this."

"You think?" Gunn said. "Seen enough horror flicks to know these things always turn out ugly." Eve led a blonde in a tight red dress into the room. "I stand corrected," Gunn said, looking at the woman.

"All right, let's get to it," the psychic said. "Eve tells me that you've lost a ghostie."

"Well, he's not actually a ghost technically," Fred said. "More of a-"

"Yeah, whatever," the psychic said as she sat at the head of the table, Buffy on her right. "Now, I have Pilates at the crack of why-am-I-awake, so we're gonna move this right along. I will mutter a few calming words to get us into the zone, and then we'll see if we can scare up your missing spook. Okay, clear your minds…which, judging by the looks of you, won't be that hard."

"Should we hold hands?" Fred asked.

"Only if your lonely," the psychic told her. "Now zip it and let me do my sweet funky." She inhaled and exhaled slowly and said, "I call upon the guardian of souls, the keeper of the passage. Let our breath flow from what is to what has passed. Bless us with the presence of the lost. Grant us communion with the world beyond our reach. Give voice to those who can no longer be heard. I beseech you, open your gates…reveal your secrets." She opened her eyes suddenly and said, "I sense a presence. Very close….so much pain…"

"He's in pain?" Buffy asked.

"The dark soul…so much suffering," the psychic said. "It's coming…it's coming…Oh, God, I can feel it," the psychic said, sounding scared. "The dark soul…it's here. It's…it's the R-it's the…" She grabbed at her throat and cried out.

"Woah," Gunn said.

"What's happening?" Fred asked. The psychic was beginning to choke.

"Spike, stop it," Angel said to the room. "Let her go." He stood up.

The psychic gasped and began to breathe normally again. Her nose was bleeding a little and she exhaled.

"Are you alright?" Buffy asked, leaning towards her.

The psychic did not respond, but suddenly exploded blood from her mouth on Buffy and collapsed.

* * *

The sound of running water filled the empty and shadowy laboratory as Buffy showered in the bathroom in the back of the lab. Heavy steam surrounded her as she tried to clean herself of all the blood. She knew that whatever had killed the psychic was not Spike. Spike wanted to be brought back from wherever he was, and that woman could have helped. Buffy knew Spike had done some awful things, even when he had a soul, but this could not have been one of them.

She finished showering and grabbed a towel, wrapping it around her body. She was just about to leave the stall when she noticed something in the glass. The word "Reaper" was written in the fog on the glass of the shower stall. As soon as Buffy had seen the message, the glass shattered and it was gone.

* * *

Wesley searched through volumes of books in his office along with Angel and Gunn, looking for whatever the psychic was referring to before she violently died.

"Got it," Gunn said, holding an open book. "The dark soul."

"What's it say?" Angel asked.

"A lot. There are over 3,200 different references. Four of them are about you," Gunn said to Angel.

"What? Give me that," Angel said as he got up from his seat grabbed the book from Gunn and began to read the page.

"This is getting us nowhere," Wesley said.

Angel, looking at the book Gunn had, said. "Well, that's not fair, I didn't even have a soul when I did that."

"There has to be a way to narrow down the search," Wesley said.

Right on cue, Buffy ran into the office and said, "Reaper. Cross reference with the word 'reaper'." Her hair was still damp from the shower and she was wearing a pair of jeans and a white v-neck t-shirt that both belonged to Fred.

"Where'd you pull that?" Gunn asked.

"Came to me in the shower," Buffy said.

"Here it is," Angel said, reading from the book. "Matthias Pavayne, dark soul number 182."

"Pavayne…" Wesley repeated. He stood up and went over to the computer on his desk.

"Well there's not much here," Angel said, still looking at the book. "European aristocrat, 18th century. He was a doctor, nicknamed "The Reaper" for performing unnecessary surgery on his patients."

"What kind of surgery…" Buffy asked, afraid to know the answer.

"The kind you don't recover from," Wesley said, looking at his computer screen. "There's a file on him in internal archives, classified histories."

"He worked for Wolfram and Hart?" Gunn asked.

"Not exactly," Wesley said. He read from the screen, "Word spread of his unorthodox practices, he fled to California, still under Spanish rule at the time. His arrival coincided with a rash of brutal, ritualistic murders. Pieces of the victims placed in a manner suggesting an intimate knowledge of the dark arts."

"Pieces?" Buffy said.

Wesley continued to read from the screen and said, "The slaughter continued for the better part of 20 years. The perpetrator was never caught. At least not by the authorities."

"What, you're saying Wolfram and Hart took this guy out?" Angel said.

"Why would they do that?" Buffy asked.

"Sounds like their idea of employee of the month," Gunn said.

"Because they needed his blood," Wesley said. "Representatives from Wolfram and Hart were looking to build a new branch in what would eventually become Los Angeles. Unfortunately a Spanish mission was already resting on the site their seers recommended. They needed an appropriate sacrifice to deconsecrate the grounds."

"So this place is built on the blood of a mass-murdering psychopath?" Buffy said.

"It would appear so," Wes said.

"But if Pavayne's half as bad as he sounds, he should've been roasting his chestnuts in hell centuries ago," Gunn said.

"You said something about the dark arts, right?" Angel asked. "Maybe he knew enough to figure out a way to stick around."

"That might explain why the mystics can't get a bead on him, too," Buffy offered.

"What I still don't get are all the ghosts at Wolfram and Hart," Angel said.

"But there aren't any," Wes said.

"That's what I mean. High-risk employment. People die here all the time. This place should be full of spooks," Angel said. "So what happened to them?"

"Maybe this Pavayne character's munching on them," Gunn said.

"Whatever he's doing to them, we need to get Spike back," Buffy said. "Before he's next."

* * *

Angel, Buffy, Wes, and Gunn walked into Fred's lab and saw her writing formulas on the windows. Every writable space was covered in them, and Fred's hair was pulled back hastily into a messy bun.

"That's never good," Wesley said, watching Fred write on the window.

"What?" she asked, turning around and noticing the group. "Oh, no, I…I just ran out of white board. I'm not crazy…again."

"Just scary smart," Buffy said.

"You really think this will bring Spike back?" Angel asked.

"Well, I had to extrapolate a new variation on interdimensional plasma dynamics on the fly, but…if the math holds…" Fred said.

"Alright," Angel said. "First we'll try to get Spike back, and then we'll deal with Pavayne."

"Wait," Fred said, stopping him. "For this to work, it's going to require a massive surge of dark energy to catalyze the process."

"How massive?" Angel asked.

"The equivalent of nuclear evil," Fred stated.

"Where the hell are we supposed to find that?" Buffy asked.

"Well..." Wes said dramatically. "There is a legend that tells of a volcano deep in the forbidden jungles of South Africa."

Gunn cut him off and said, "Or, I might know a place a little closer to home."

* * *

"The white room?" Buffy asked as she looked at the vast empty space. Gunn and Angel stood on either side of her. "Really did not enjoy this place the first time around, what makes you think I'd like it now?"

"Sorry Buffy," Gunn said. "But this conduit is full of ancient power and I thought things might go more smoothly if you were here." When she just looked at him with confusion on her face Gunn continued and said, "Because you're a slayer…filled with ancient power and strength? It was just an idea, alright? We don't want this to go badly."

"Sure, whatever makes this thing happy," Buffy said, unenthused.

"Why do you think they call it the white room?" Gunn mused. "And how are we still in the building, when we're standing in a place that technically doesn't exist?"

"So this is your brainstorm," Angel said. "You want to try and snip off a piece of the conduit that connects Wolfram and Hart to the other dimensions."

"Want may be a hair strong," Gunn said.

"Last conduit took the form of that creepy little girl, and then there was Lilah…no telling what the new one's decided to look like," Angel said.

"Actually it's not that bad," Gunn said, right before some animal that sounded like a very large cat growled around them. "If you like cats."

"Oh jeeze…" Buffy said looking around.

"I'm kind of a dog person," Angel muttered.

There was a harsh snarl and Gunn said, "Ix-nay on the og-day."

"Um, look, we're not here to ruffle anything," Angel said, speaking to the seemingly empty room. He held up the empty container he was holding and said, "We were just wondering if we maybe could borrow a couple of whiskers or-"

There was an even louder snarl that cut Angel off and Gunn grabbed the container from him and said, "Woah, hey, easy. It's me. Charles Gunn. You know I wouldn't be here if the situation wasn't heavy. Just asking for a little help, me to you, personal favor. What do you say?" There was a much softer growl and a large black panther appeared and strode towards them. Buffy gasped and looked at the panther in wonder. Gunn smiled and said, "Yeah, who's a good kitty?" kindly to the panther as he pet him on the head.

* * *

Angel, Buffy, and Gunn walked into Fred's lab to see her and Wes working on an elaborate and large machine that took up most of the room.

"Wes, make sure it's calibrated to minus .058," Fred said. She then looked to Gunn and asked, "Did you get it?"

Gunn handed Fred the container which was now filled with a dark liquid and said, "Make it count. Told me we ain't getting anymore."

"It talks? I didn't hear it talk," Angel asked.

"Maybe you weren't listening right," Gunn said.

Fred put the container in the machine and said, "Alright, I think we're almost ready."

"How do we let Spike know?" Buffy asked.

Wesley said, "Won't have to."

Fred started up the machine and said, "This baby puts out enough juice to light up ghost city. Anything remotely spectral around here is about to get the tinglies."

* * *

Meanwhile, in the lobby Spike and Pavayne were fighting. Spike seemed to have lost the upper hand and Pavayne stood over him, panting heavily.

"Learned a few of my tricks. Means nothing, does it?" Pavayne told Spike. He kicked Spike across the lobby and said, "I've cheated hell for hundreds of years. Fed it other dirty little souls. Left me alone, let me get stronger. Now, this realm…I am God. And you…" Pavayne picked up Spike by the collar. "…wood for the fire."

Suddenly, an energy spread throughout the lobby from Fred's machine and Spike and Pavayne noticed it. Pavayne was distracted and Spike took advantage, punched Pavayne and ran towards the lab.

"This won't do. This won't do at all," Pavayne said before following Spike out of the lobby.

Angel, Buffy, Gunn, Wesley, and Fred were in the lab, waiting for the machine to start working. Fred's scanner started beeping and she said, "He's here." Fred then yelled to the room, "Spike, step into the circle! Hurry! We've only got one chance at making you corporeal agai-" She was cut off as something started choking her.

"Fred!" Wes called out.

"It's Pavayne!" Gunn exclaimed.

"He's killing her," Angel said. Angel, Buffy, Gunn, and Wes charged towards Fred to help her, but they were all knocked back across the lab, knocking over instruments.

Suddenly the machine's ring on the floor was ready and Pavayne was curled in the center, fully corporeal. Angel walked up to him.

Pavayne looked down at his body and said angrily, "No. No! Defilers! I'll cut you into nothing! I'll feast on your brains. I'll swim in lakes of your own blood."

Angel punched Pavayne, knocking him down, and said, "You'll shut the hell up."

Spike reappeared in the lab and said, "Don't kill him. If he becomes a spirit again, we'll never stop him."

"Fine. No killing. Just a whole lot of brusin'," Angel said, punching Pavayne again.

* * *

Deep in the basement of Wolfram and Hart, Matthias Pavayne was locked in a small cell. Metal bars restrained him from moving and there were electrodes and wires attached to his head. His eyes were wide open and unmoving. Angel, Buffy, and Eve looked at him.

"Sure it'll hold him?" Angel asked.

"Permanent storage," Eve said gesturing around her to other similar cells. "If there's anything Wolfram and Hart excels at, it's keeping their unmentionables unmentioned."

Angel said to Pavayne, "Congratulations. You get to live forever, unable to move, to touch, or to feel, or to affect anything in the world around you. But don't worry. I had 'em give you a window." He shut the door to reveal a tiny slit of a window at Pavayne's eye level.

"Welcome to hell, sucker," Buffy added before following Angel and Eve down the basement hallway.

* * *

Buffy walked up the short pathway to the front door of Willow and Xander's condo. It was morning, right after she, Angel, and Eve had locked away Pavayne. Buffy desperately needed some sleep after staying up all night, but she had been meaning to talk to Willow about this for a while now. Buffy knocked on the door before opening it and peering in.

Willow was standing in the kitchen, stirring a cup of coffee. She smiled at Buffy in greeting and said, "Hey Buff! How was your night?"

"Long," Buffy said as she sat at one of the stools at the counter, across from where Willow was standing with her coffee mug. "Spike's gonna be as fine as he can be, we're pretty sure he'll stop disappearing now. There was this whole thing with ghosts and a murdering psychopath and I'm just really glad it's over."

"Good," Willow said.

"Is Xander around?" Buffy asked.

"No, he already left for the day," Willow told her. "Why, did you need him?"

"No, no," Buffy said. "I need to talk to you about something. Well ask you a favor, really."

"Okay…" Willow said.

"Um…I was wondering if it's possible…if-if there was a way for you to bind Angel's soul to him. So he can't lose it…" Buffy said, her face turning a little pink.

"Oh..oh!" Willow exclaimed.

"It's just...I really want to make it work this time, and we're already so distant and stressed with work and everything...I-I can't lose him this time Will," Buffy said.

"Oh, Buffy…I'm sure there's something…of course I'll look into it," Willow said.

"Thanks, you have no idea what this means to me," Buffy said.

Willow smiled at her best friend. She was glad to help Buffy and Angel out in anyway. Not many people may like them together, but Willow saw what they shared and how unique and rare it was. She also remembered how miserable they both were during senior year of high school. Willow was going to make sure they'd never feel that way again.

* * *

**A/N: Wow, quite possibly the quickest update yet! And to those of you who were disappointed at the lack of B/A cuteness in this chapter...please remember that the next chapter is "Life of the Party"...remember what Lorne makes Angel and Eve do...remember how Angel/Eve is never going to happen in this fic? Just thought I'd give you that little teaser :)**

**Please review!**

**-sailor's delight**


	7. Life of the Party

**************Disclaimer: Anything recognizable from _Buffy the Vampire Slayer _and/or _Angel _belongs to the creators of the show and not me. I'm using the characters/ideas for fun and not for profit. The title _"Angels & Demons" _was inspired by the Dan Brown book. Lyrics belong to Katy Perry. A big thanks to the wonderful website www. twiztv .com for the transcripts.

* * *

**

**Life of the Party**

_**I'mma get your heart racing in my skin tight jeans,**_

_**Be your teenage dream tonight.**_

_**Let you put your hands on me in my skin tight jeans,**_

_**Be your teenage dream tonight**_

_**You make me feel like I'm living a teenage dream,**_

_**The way you turn me on.**_

_**I can't sleep, let's run away and don't ever look back,**_

_**Don't ever look back.**_

**-Katy Perry**

It was well past midnight and the light from Willow's living room was still on, illuminating the computer that the witch had been sitting at for the past few hours. Willow was staring at the computer screen intently and she felt like she was onto something big.

"_Te implor, Doamne, nu ignora aceasta rugaminte._ _Te implor, Doamne, nu ignora aceasta rugaminte…I implore you, Lord, do not ignore this request…Nici mort, nici al finite…Neither dead, nor of the living…Lasa orbita sa fie vasul care-i va transporta, sufletul la el…Let this Orb be the vessel that will carry his soul to him. Asa sa fie. Asa sa fie. Acum…So it shall be. So it shall be. Now…"_

Willow read these words over and over as she had been all night. It felt strange to be looking at them again after so many years. Memories of that night nagged at the back of her mind. Cordelia and Oz had been there at the hospital with her. That seemed like a lifetime ago.

Willow looked at the ancient book she was holding and back up at the screen. There was a puzzled look on her face as she looked back and forth between the two.

"No, that can't be right…" Willow muttered to herself. _"Let this Orb be the vessel that will carry his soul to him…" _Willow read again from the computer screen. She looked back at the book on her lap. "There's something missing…" Willow whispered again. Suddenly she gasped and said, "Oh…my…God." She reached for the phone and then remembered what time it was. She would tell Buffy and Angel in the morning.

* * *

The next morning was exceptionally busy at The Academy. Last night a group of slayers had been patrolling and had stumbled upon a fairly large nest of vampires, which was the first real action a lot of them had seen. The lobby was filled with the sound of excited voices as the slayers who fought the nest of vampires excitedly told the other slayers about the night. Some of the girls needed some medical attention and were getting looked at by the school's resident nurse. Willow walked through the lobby looking for Buffy but couldn't see her amid the bustling people. She saw Giles leaving his office and called out to him.

"Giles!" Willow walked over to him.

"Willow, good morning. You've heard what happened last night, I'm sure?" Giles asked. Before Willow could answer, Giles continued. "I want you and Andrew to talk to the group that was patrolling last night. Get as many details as you can, I want to know exactly what happened so we can analyze it and get a better idea of how our training is working in the field."

"I-Oh..okay," Willow said, a little stunned. Giles started to walk away and Willow called after him, "Have you seen Buffy?"

"Training room, I believe," Giles said before disappearing into the crowd.

Willow descended the stairs that lead to the large circular training room and opened one of the double doors to see Buffy along with a group of slayers inside. Buffy watched as the girls, including Kennedy, oriented themselves to recreate what happened last night. Willow assumed that these were some of the slayers that had found the nest. Andrew was sitting on the floor taking diligent notes.

"Carly was over there in that corner fighting a vamp and Abbey and Mel were next to me fighting another one," Kennedy said.

"What!" Carly exclaimed. "I was fighting _two _vampires while you were just ordering us around!"

"I was getting a crossbow to come and help you, Carly," Kennedy retorted. She then noticed her girlfriend had entered the room. "Oh hey Wills!"

Buffy turned to face the door and said, "Oh Willow, thank God. Did Giles talk to you?"

"Yeah he did, listen Buffy I need to talk to you-" Willow started to say, but Buffy cut her off.

"You think you could take over from here?" Buffy asked. "I'm supposed to be at Wolfram and Hart right now. You and Xander are coming tonight, right?"

"Tonight…what's tonight?" Willow asked.

"The Halloween party? Please tell me you can make it, I don't think I could survive a W&H party without you guys," Buffy said.

"Right, yeah we'll be there," Willow told her.

"Awesome, I gotta run. We'll talk at the party, 'kay?" Buffy said before she exited the room.

"You're gonna wish I told you sooner…" Willow muttered to the closed door before turning to face the room to pick up where Buffy left off.

* * *

Buffy walked into Angel's penthouse and looked around, not seeing her boyfriend anywhere. She heard a noise from behind her and turned to see Angel walking out of the bathroom wearing nothing but a towel around his waist, his skin still damp.

Buffy gulped and Angel looked surprised to see her. "Buffy? What are you doing here?" he asked.

"Sorry, so…sorry. Harmony let me up and the door was open and I just…" Buffy said, trying to keep her eyes off his muscular torso.

"It's okay," Angel said, giving her his half smile.

"You look…tired," Buffy said.

"Mm. Needed a shower, got Thraxis blood all over me," Angel told her.

"Doesn't that burn?" Buffy asked.

"Yeah. So what's up?" Angel asked.

"Lorne sent me up…you had a 7:30 meeting…" Buffy told him, feeling bad that he had to go right back to work after having a rough night.

"Oh, right. Um…I'll get my pants," Angel said, leaving to get dressed.

"Good idea," Buffy muttered under her breath.

* * *

When the elevator doors opened, Buffy and Angel were face to face with a large foam skull. Angel instinctively punched it, knocking down the man who was holding the skull. Angel noticed other similar decorations around the lobby.

"Okay, why does it look like we're having a party in here?" Angel asked.

"Well, maybe 'cause we're having a party in here," Lorne said, walking up to Angel. "The Wolfram and Hart Halloween Bash? Ring a bell? The biggest event on the company calendar? I sent you a small forest's worth of memos on it."

"We're havin' it here?" Angel asked.

"You see what I'm up against?" Lorne said to Buffy.

"That's what your 7:30 was about, Angel. Your party," Buffy told him.

"My party?" Angel asked, puzzled.

"Yeah, listen," Lorne said to him. "Here's the snafu in a nutshell, top cat. Uh, nobody's comin'. Well some people are coming, but the right people, the A-list people, they seem to be giving it a miss, and if they don't show up, this shindig is gonna be a bust."

"Good," Angel said.

"Good?" Lorne repeated angrily.

"I wasn't too crazy about this thing to begin with. I mean, we are talking about our clients right? Our evil clients," Angel said to Lorne, who had started rubbing his temples. "Not the sort of folks I really like to show a good time. I'd be a lot happier if the whole thing just kind of fell through. Then we could get back to-"

Lorne interrupted him by laughing and said, "Hah, hah! Okay, okay! You're killin' me. Can't you just feel up the big picture, Mr. Magoo? It's not about good and evil. It's about party. Party! Capital P! Rhymes with me?" Lorne was yelling now. "About to have a stroke here 'cause you're killin' me!" Buffy looked at him warily and he calmed down a bit. "Listen. I can see that you're in a-a state, a-amood, a-a snit even. So what say we talk about this once you've calmed down a bit?"

"Yeah, sure. That's fine-" Angel started to say.

"Great. Your office. Twenty-five minutes," Lorne said as he walked away.

Angel looked at Buffy, a puzzled look on his face. She shrugged and said, "You see why I had to come get you?"

* * *

Almost half an hour later, the whole group was gathered in Angel's office waiting for Lorne. Angel was sitting behind his desk, while Gunn was sitting on one of the corners. Buffy, Spike, and Fred were by the windows. Wesley was in a chair in the corner.

Spike looked out the window at the people in costume. "In my day, no self-respecting creature of the night went out on All Hallow's Eve. We left that to the posers, the blighters who had to dress up and try to be scary." Angel pressed a button that made the windows fog up. "Magic windows. Will the perks never end?" Spike asked.

Lorne finally walked into the office, finishing up a phone call. "Ah, perfetto, Benigni! Perfetto-"

Lorne almost walked through Spike but awkwardly avoided him. "Ah, si, si, si. Grande. Ciao." Lorne hung up and asked the group, "What did I miss?"

"Us. Waiting," Angel said.

"Oh, right. Sorry," Lorne said. "So, uh, Angel, we just wanted to take a moment and emphasize how important this party really is to us."

"I gotta say Lorne is right," Gunn said. "We gotta show all the big bads that the new regime is here to stay, which, for the most part, boils down to image. And image-wise, if this party doesn't kick ass, we lose face."

"And believe me, milk dud, speaking as the head of your PR Department, we need all the face we can get," Lorne said.

"Milk dud?" Angel repeated.

"Said with affection," Lorne clarified.

"Okay, listen, I understand the whole keeping up with appearances concept, but everyone coming to this thing is unrepentant, dyed-in-the-wool evil," Angel said.

Lorne told him, "Angel, a good host just doesn't make these sort of judgments."

"We don't know how many of them are holding grudges against us or against each other. It's a perfect recipe for an out of control bloodbath," Angel said.

"That's describing every good party I've ever been to!" Lorne said. "Listen, Angel, don't worry about a thing. This is my forte. And I ran Caritas for years, a nightclub with an open-door policy. The good, the bad, the hideously ugly, they all bellied up to my demon bar, but they all played nicely together while they were there."

"This is exactly the kind of ethical tightrope we've gotta walk now, Angel," Gunn told him. "Which brings up another point-our employees."

"Also evil," Angel pointed out.

Harmony walked in with a mug and placed it on Angel's desk. "Here's your blood, bossy." Angel glared at her and she said, "Ahem-boss."

Gunn said, "Some of them, yeah, but all of them work hard for this place, and Halloween, well, around here it's like Christmas. Simply put this is a morale thing."

Harmony scoffed and said, "Good luck. The morale around here stinks."

"What?" Angel asked.

"Uh-huh," Harmony told him. "Everybody thinks you suck. Well, come on, boss. They're all out there, sweating through their matsudas, worried if you're gonna axe them, or you know, axe them."

"Okay, look, hey, I haven't-okay I may have…killed a couple of them," Angel said.

"And several clients," Lorne said. "And maybe some potential clients? Why do you think my RSVP list is only a fifth of the size of last year's?"

"It's you, bud," Gunn said to Angel.

"Come on, what, do they think I'm throwing this thing so I can slaughter them?" Angel asked, jokingly. Everyone in the room just looked at him. "Fine. I surrender. Go ahead Lorne, put on your best dog and pony. I won't get in the way."

"I don't want you to sit back and just let it happen, Angel. I need you to get out there and make it happen," Lorne said.

"What does that mean?" Angel asked.

* * *

Lorne poured himself a drink as he told Angel and Buffy about Archduke Sebassis while they rode to his house in a limousine.

"Archduke Sebassis. Bona fide nobility from the fiery down under. Commands over forty legions. He's the living end of a pure bloodline of demonic royalty," Lorne said.

"Great. Just great," Angel said, clearly not thrilled. Buffy wasn't too excited either, but Lorne had begged her to come. Buffy figured it was in case Angel suddenly had a change of heart and needed someone to reason with him.

"Well, also, the very peak of the A-list mountain," Lorne continued. "He's the crown jewel of the underworld jet set. If we convince him to come, all the other glitterati will just domino in right behind him, and then…then we'll be in business."

"This really matters to you, doesn't it?" Angel asked.

"Well, of course," Lorne told him. "The new Wolfram and Hart-I mean, we have to-"

"No," Angel interrupted him. "I mean, this really matters to you. Personally."

"Yeah. You know, Angel, I-I don't have superhuman strength, and I'm not a fighter. Quantum physics makes me nauseous, and I barely made a passing grade at mystical studies, but I'm on your team. This is something I can do. I believe it has a purpose that can help you, even if you don't."

"Well, I'm here, aren't I? I agreed to this," Angel said.

"No, you-you did. You did. And I promise you won't regret it. But, hey, let's leave it that you let me do most of the talking, huh? You just kind of smile and try not to rip anybody apart, okay?" Lorne said before taking a drink.

Buffy noticed that the limo had stopped and she said, "Mind if I just wait for you guys? Angel made it here without me having to resort to physical violence and Lorne sounds like he's got the PR thing down pat. Besides, pure demonic royal bloodline? I'm gonna be way too antsy in there."

Before Angel could say anything Lorne said, "Sure thing doll. Help yourself to a drink." He handed his glass to her and got out of the limo.

Buffy said, "Thank goodness," to herself before taking a sip. Angel told her they would be back in a few minutes and followed Lorne out of the limo.

Buffy was on her second drink when Angel and Lorne returned. Lorne excitedly told her that the Archduke would be attending. Buffy really hoped there would be an open bar at this thing.

* * *

Later that night the party had begun and yet Harmony was the only once on the dance floor. Two lawyers could be overheard saying that the party needed a ritual sacrifice to liven things up while a demon was wandering around with a face-mask and sweater vest calling himself a "human bean". Willow and Xander had arrived and the latter was chatting with Fred and Wesley.

"Look at Lorne," Fred said. "I mean, God, he's just so good at this. He fits in with everybody. I guess I've always hated parties. I never know what to do with myself. I just ended up at the hors d'oeuvres table, trying to look occupied."

Lorne came over to the three and said, "Hey there wallflowers!"

"Wallflowers?" Xander asked.

"I need you to give me a hand, help light the fuse on this powder keg? Look at the dance floor. The only thing on it is Harmony," Lorne said. He then yelled to Harmony, "Hey, you keep pushing that envelope baby!"

"I'm afraid this really isn't our element, Lorne," Wesley said.

"Yeah, we're wallflowers," Fred said.

"Oh, no, no, no, sweetie," Lorne said. "You're the young, the beautiful, the ready to-oh. Well here's one problem. You're totally sober! It's Halloween. You should be three sheets to the wind already. Now, try and get into the spirit of things, okay?"

Lorne walked off and Fred, Wesley, and Xander all just looked at each other.

* * *

Lorne walked into Angel's office and saw him sitting at his desk looking quite unhappy.

"Angel, it's a graveyard out there, and all the guests wanna meet the new guy in charge," Lorne said. "I mean, your lovely lady is out there mingling and you know how much she hates it here and yet she's doing it all for you! Look, she even got all dressed up."

Angel looked out the office windows and saw Buffy chatting with someone who worked with Wesley. She did look great, Angel thought to himself. She was wearing a short black silk strapless dress that hugged her skin. Her blonde hair was down in loose ringlets and she had on a pair of killer black high heels.

Angel looked away again and said, "Look, Lorne, I-I-I have things. I'm busy. I'm brooding."

Lorne turned around to see what Angel was looking at and saw that the television was on and a hockey game was playing. Lorne said angrily, "Oh, you're watching hockey!"

"Yeah, but my team is losing," Angel said.

"Get up off your keister and get out there! I can't steer this ship of fools by my lonesome! I just can't do it! I…" Lorne groaned and rubbed his temples in pain.

"Lorne?" Angel asked, concerned.

Lorne looked up at Angel. He was all smiles and bubbly again. "Let's boogie, sweet tart!"

* * *

Willow was still looking for an opportunity to tell Buffy and Angel what she had found, with no avail. She noticed Lorne introducing Angel to some people and Buffy was still talking with an older gentlemen Willow thought worked for Wesley.

"Hey Will!" came a loud voice from behind Willow. She was then grabbed from behind in a huge hug. Willow turned around and found herself face to face with a very intoxicated Xander.

"Are you drunk?" Willow asked, some humor in her voice.

Xander giggled for a moment and said, "Yep, think so!"

Willow rolled her eyes at him and said, "Come on, I need to talk Buffy and Angel." Xander draped his arm around Willow's shoulder and walked with her to Buffy, who was now at the bar pouring herself a glass of champagne.

She turned to Willow and Xander when she saw them and said, "Hey guys! I feel like I haven't talked to you all night. Is he drunk?" she asked, looking at Xander, who was now hanging off of Willow and staring at a lumpy faced demon with a confused expression on his face.

"I do bel-believe I am!" Xander said loudly with a hiccup. He looked at the glass of champagne Buffy was holding and said, "Ya joinin' me Buffster?"

Buffy looked around the room, gave a soft snort and said, "Quite possibly."

Willow spotted Angel near them with Lorne and Spike and said, "Buffy, I really need to talk to you and Angel-"

"Oh right, come on," Buffy said as she lead Willow and Xander over to Angel, Lorne, and Spike.

"Oh, no, he's doing great," Lorne was saying as they approached. "He's already not killed, like, 100 guests."

"He doesn't have to. Party's already dead," Spike said.

"Oh, really, Spike, would it kill you to be a little more positive? Hmm?" Lorne said to him angrily.

"I think you're doin' a great job, hun," Buffy said, placing her hand on Angel's arm and smiling at him. "So Will, what's up?"

Willow looked at Buffy and Angel and said, "I kinda need to talk to you guys…"

"Okay…" Angel said a little warily.

"Umm," Willow said, fidgeting and looking back and forth between the couple. "Could we do it somewhere else?"

"Come on, Red," Spike said. "Maybe this'll liven up the party some."

"Yeah Willow, what's going on?" Buffy asked, getting a little concerned at how nervous her friend was.

"Okay…so I was doing some research about your soul, Angel," Willow said. At her words, Angel snapped his eyes to Willow's and he looked at her with a confused expression on his face. "I um-I compared the original one, from the gypsies and the one that Miss Calendar was planning on performing…the one I did back in high school…and-well…" Willow trailed off. Buffy and Angel were looking at her expectantly. "I found a piece missing from the new version…"

"What?" Buffy asked, confused.

"The part about the…the loophole was missing in the version Jenny wrote…" Willow said, hoping they could figure the rest out.

"Wait…what?" Buffy asked again.

"You two can-you can…" Willow started to say, but Xander cut her off.

"You guys can get groiny!" he exclaimed loudly. He then started laughing and said, "You've been able to do it since high school! HA! Good one Will!" He held his hand up to Willow, waiting for a high five, but she ignored him.

"Is-is this true?" Buffy whispered to Willow.

Willow nodded and said, "I've looked it over a thousand times, and there's no happiness loophole anymore."

"Oh my…" Buffy started to say. She looked up at Angel, who was just looking at Willow in disbelief.

Before any of them could absorb this information, a loud voice said, "The Archduke Sebassis!"

Sebassis walked into the lobby and all around him people gathered, kneeling before him and kissing his hands and feet.

Lorne leaned over to Angel, who was still in a daze from what Willow told him, and said, "Mmm, okay sport. You're on, and please, for me, can you try to be nice to him? Just this one time, huh?"

Sebassis was saying to the people gathered at his feet, "Yes, fine. Sycophants, worms. Don't writhe all at once. It's sickening."

Angel walked up to him and said, "Archduke Sebassis! Thanks so much for coming."

"Yes, well-" Sebassis started to say.

"Really, really thrilled that you're here," Angel said.

Lorne said to Sebassis's assistant, "Artode, welcome. Welcome. Love the jacket by the way."

"It's Pylean," Artode told him.

"Oh, made in Pylea, hah. My home dimension," Lorne said.

"Not made in, made from," Artode said. "I skinned it myself. Anybody you know?"

Lorne laughed nervously and said, "Well, great. Thanks for dropping by."

Angel continued talking to Sebassis. He figured the sooner he chatted up Sebassis, the sooner he could talk to Buffy. "And you look just-well, I don't have to tell you how awesome you look. You know how awesome you look. He knows how awesome he looks, right?" Angel asked, leaned over to Buffy.

"Super. Awesome," Buffy said.

"Angel, hey. We don't wanna be greedy with his eminence. Thank you, your lordship," Lorne said.

"Thank you," Sebassis said to him.

"Absolutely. Really. Thrilled to have you here," Angel said.

Lorne pulled Angel away from Sebassis and said, "Okey-dokey! Okay, that'll do it. Thank you, come on."

* * *

By now the party had definitely livened up. Fred, Wesley, and Xander were drunkenly raiding the buffet table and there was the fait odor of urine coming from a few corners of the lobby. Buffy finally saw that Angel was alone and she walked over to him.

"I have to say, I'm impressed. I saw you with Sebassis. I didn't know you had it in you," she said to him with a smirk, looking him up and down.

"Yeah, well, it was an act," Angel said with a chuckle. "I think."

"Well, whatever it was, it worked," Buffy told him.

Angel got closer to her and lowered his voice saying, "I wanted to say this earlier, but that dress looks…really great."

Buffy gulped and before she could say anything Lorne came over and said, "Oh, you two. Really. The sexual tension? Oh, with a knife you could cut it, huh? Get a room."

Buffy looked up at Angel and without another word grabbed his hand and pulled him into his office.

* * *

Back at the party, Wesley, Fred, and Xander were on the dance floor. A demon bumped Fred as he walked past her and she yelled to him, "Hey, you want a piece of me, buddy? That's right. Keep walking. You walk alone! You walk alone!"

Wesley grabbed her waist and pulled her back saying, "Careful, that thing's loaded."

"So am I. I mean, wow. Wes. Wesley. Xand…Xand…er. I am totally drunk-faced," Fred slurred.

"Because you can't hold your…what are you drinking?" Wesley asked.

"Nothing," Fred replied.

"You can't hold that," Xander said with a giggle.

"Oh, yeah? Lightweights, how much have you had?" Fred asked.

Wesley held up his beer and said, "Including this, I've had…about a third of half this beer." Xander looked expectantly in his empty hands for a drink and found nothing.

"That's weird, right?" Fred asked.

"Yes, I think so. I think that's weird," Wesley said.

"There's Gunn. Let's go ask him if that's weird," Fred suggested.

The three of them walked over to Gunn who had his back to them. Wesley said to him, "Hey. Hey, Gunn. Is something weird going on?" Gunn turned towards them. His hands were at his waist. "Charles," Wes said. "You just peed on my shoes."

Gunn looked down, confused, and said, "I'll be damned." He zipped up his fly and said, "That's weird."

Spike came over and said cheerily, "Hey, is this a great party or what?"

Xander looked at Spike and said, "Okay, something is definitely wrong with this picture."

"This might be the greatest song ever written," Spike said, bobbing his head along to the music.

"Yes. We appear to be under the effect of something, a spell," Wes said.

Gunn asked, "Spike, how long have you been, you know…this?"

"It's great, isn't it?" Spike said. "I don't know. Happened a bit after I talked with Angel and Lorne. Yeah, Lorne told me to think positively."

Wesley snapped his fingers and said, "Lorne!"

Right on cue, Lorne came over and said, "Whoo! Whoo-hoo-hoo! Hey, kittens. Oh, that dance floor is smoking!" Everyone just looked at him and he asked, "What?"

* * *

Wesley, Fred, Xander, Gunn, and Spike lead Lorne into Angel's office. Willow saw the group enter and followed them in as well.

"Come on, guys. I'm telling you I did not do anything," Lorne said.

"Angel? You in here? Ang-" Fred started to ask.

Angel interrupted her by popping his head up from behind the couch. He appeared to be naked. "Ohh! What?" he asked. Buffy, also apparently naked and slightly panting, peered over the couch also.

"Hey! Angel's getting some! Good one you, mate," Spike said.

"What's wrong with you?" Angel asked.

"He must be under the effect of Lorne," Wesley explained. "And Buffy too, presume-presumally…"

Fred snorted and said, "Prezoomally!"

"Lorne's doing it-something to all of us," Wesley said.

"I am not," Lorne said.

"Everything he's told us to do, we're doing. Spike's thinking positive, Gunn is peeing all over the office," Wesley said.

"And we're a little bit drunk," Xander said.

"Yes, but not because we drank, because Lorne told us to be drunk," Wesley said.

"Lorne told you to pee all over the office?" Angel asked Gunn.

"Lord, I hope so," Gunn said.

"This is crazy. I am not doing this. I would know if I was doing this. I don't even know what this is," Lorne said.

"You know, I really love your desk," Spike mentioned.

"I don't get it. I thought Lorne was just an empath demon," Buffy asked with some difficulty, as Angel was biting and sucking at her neck.

"Territory!" Gunn exclaimed. "Wait, this morning, Lorne told me to stake out my territory."

"Right," Wes said. "Territorial marking, taken a little too literally."

Angel and Buffy had begun making out in front of everyone and Fred said, "Hey, guys, keep it in your pants."

"Oh, hey, I did not tell Gunn to go water the ferns. I did not do anything," Lorne protested.

"You had your sleep removed," Gunn said.

"What?" Wesley asked.

"Yeah, he hasn't slept in a month," Gunn said.

"Oh dear, an empath demon deprived of sleep for that long…" Wesley said.

"What does that have to do with it?" Lorne asked.

"Something, apparently," Fred said.

Angel and Buffy broke apart long enough for Angel to ask, "Lorne, why would you let them do that to you?" Buffy pulled him back to her.

"I had to do something, didn't I?" Lorne said. "I mean, you don't know what I've had to deal with. I'm the center of gravity in a town that's full of borderline disorder celebrities and powerbrokers. All the hand-holding and ego-stroking and the 4 AM Jacuzzi strategy sessions…I just couldn't keep up with it, even without sleeping."

Angel pulled away from Buffy, who whimpered, and asked, "Why didn't you tell me? Why didn't you tell us? I would have-"

"What? Fired me?" Lorne said.

"I would have helped you, which is what I'm gonna do now, okay?" Angel said. He began to stand up, but Buffy pulled him back down behind the privacy of the couch.

"Well, I-okay," Lorne said.

"Wes, Fred, go find Lorne's sleep and figure out a way to put it back in his head," Angel said.

"Yes, sir," Wesley responded.

Fred saluted and said, "Done and doner." Wesley grabbed her by the waist and walked out of the office with her.

"Lorne, you just stay tight and try not to, you know, talk," Angel said.

"Angel, we still got a party going on. Someone has to make sure there's ice in the drinks," Lorne said.

"Oh, right," Angel said.

Spike said excitedly, "Ooh, ooh! Me! Me! I'm your people person!"

"Gunn, take Willow and Xander and go on the floor, see if anyone else is under the Lorne effect," Angel said, ignoring Spike.

"Check," Gunn said.

"And stop with the…" Angel said.

"I'll do my best," Gunn said before walking out of the office after Willow and Xander.

"And Buffy, you stay here with me, and we'll have more sex," Angel said.

"I'm on it," Buffy said as she pulled Angel back down to the floor.

"Brilliant plan," Spike said. "Excellent."

* * *

Buffy wrapped her arms around Angel's neck as he kissed her deeper. His hands traveled down her sides, lower and lower until Buffy gasped and made a muffled noise. She pulled back from Angel and still trying to catch her breath said, "Angel…Angel, wait. Spike and Lorne are right there." She gestured to Angel's desk were Spike and Lorne were standing.

Angel barely looked to where they were standing and said to Buffy, "And I just don't seem to care." He lowered his head to kiss her again but Buffy stopped him.

"Exactly! This is our first time since…well _that _first time, and it shouldn't be fifteen feet from Spike!" Buffy said.

Before Angel could say anything to her, the doors to the office banged open and Sebassis and his gang burst into the room with weapons.

"What a fantastic entrance!" Spike said.

"Sebassis?" Angel asked, peering over the couch.

"The nerve, the raw nerve to lay a hand on one of mine!" Sebassis said angrily.

"What is this?" Angel asked. "Lower your weapons."

"These darts are poisoned, vampire. Powerful enough to put you in a coma for a week. Enough to kill any one of them before their next heartbeat. You murdered Artode. I image we were to be next," Sebassis said.

"I didn't murder anyone," Angel said.

"Dress yourself, Angel. You have a public execution to attend," Sebassis told him.

Angel and Buffy both hurriedly dressed themselves from behind the couch and Angel said, "Big mistake," to Sebassis.

A scream came from the lobby and Sebassis said, "Move!"

Out in the lobby, the woman's scream turned into a horrified moan. The group saw the demon that was going around as a "human bean" lying face down on the buffet table.

"Oh boy," Lorne said.

"Yeah, somebody really dipped his chip," Harmony said.

Sebassis pointed his arrow at Lorne and then Angel. Angel said, "Okay, Sebassis, I don't know what's going on here, but we are not behind it."

"Enough lies, vampire," Sebassis said.

"Okay, everybody, okay. Yes, the party's taking an unfortunate turn momentarily. So let's not…" Lorne started to say, but stopped when Sebassis cocked his weapon. "Fight," Lorne finished. Sebassis pointed the weapon at Buffy and Lorne said, "Wait! Please, wait. I'm doing this. It's me. I mean, it's not me. But I haven't been myself lately. Somehow, I'm making people do things and I'm controlling them." Sebassis pointed the arrow at Lorne now, and Lorne said, "Woah."

"Well then, Pylean, you're making me kill you. Is that consistent with your theory?" Sebassis asked him.

Just then a loud roar echoed through the lobby and a giant green monster slightly resembling Lorne and wearing the same clothing as him jumped from the balcony and landed in front of Sebassis, growling at him.

"Oh my God…" Buffy said, looking at the creature.

"It's me," Lorne said.

Spike smiled at the monster and said, "That's one bitchin' big suit."

Giant Lorne knocked down one of Sebassis's demons and Sebassis fired a poison dart at him, with no effect.

"Lorne, what the hell is this?" Angel asked.

"Stop it! Stop killing!" Lorne said to the monster version of himself. "Listen to me. Me!" Giant Lorne knocked him over and Lorne said, "Wow, I must really hate myself."

Giant Lorne walked menacingly towards Sebassis and Angel jumped between the two, his back to Sebassis, protecting him.

"Sebassis, run," Angel said. Sebassis scurried off and hid behind a pillar. Giant Lorne smacked Angel, knocking him across the room. Buffy picked up a decorative statue and tried to hit Giant Lorne over the head with it, but she was knocked back as well and landed next to the real Lorne.

"Ohh! Oh, sorry about that," Lorne said to Buffy.

Sebassis was attempting to escape up the stairs but Giant Lorne went after him. Angel got up and started to attack Giant Lorne, but it didn't seem to be hurting him.

The elevator doors opened revealing Wesley and Fred, but they were turned facing the wrong way. They quickly turned around and walked out, Fred carrying a gun-shaped device.

"It's here! It's manifested!" Wesley exclaimed.

"Angel!" Fred said as Giant Lorne was beating Angel. Fred held up the gun in front of her.

Gunn said, "Shoot it, Fred. Now!" Fred aimed the gun at the real Lorne and fired.

Lorne collapsed and said, "Oh. Oh, ohh!"

"Oh my God! They shot Lorney-tunes!" Harmony cried.

"No, I'm okay. Just gonna rest my eyes a little bit," Lorne said from where he lay on the ground.

Giant Lorne was standing over Angel, ready to beat him when he suddenly disappeared in a puff of smoke. The real Lorne was passed out, snoring away.

* * *

By morning most remnants of the party had been cleaned up and Willow and Xander had gone home. Wesley and Angel were talking in Angel's office, Spike was hanging around the office and Lorne was sound asleep on the couch.

"That thing-I think it was a manifestation of Lorne's subconscious," Wesley explained. "It peeled away from his mind, using Lorne's supernatural powers to punch its way into our world."

"Punch is the right word," Angel responded. "Why was it trying to kill everyone?"

"I don't think it was. It may have been just processing the conflicts that Lorne normally deals with in his sleep, acting out on the emotional responses he has to the people around him."

"I guess Lorne makes some judgments after all," Angel said.

Wesley looked out of Angel's office and into the lobby and saw Fred having a drink with Knox. He wordlessly left Angel's office as Gunn walked in.

"Hey, I spoke with Sebassis' people. Explained what I could," Gunn said.

"So what do we got? Lawsuit? Demon war?" Angel asked.

"No, it seems like they enjoy a little blood sport at their social functions. Looks like we're okay," Gunn said.

"We're not okay," Angel said. "We've been so focused on the dangers outside that we didn't see the ones within. This place is trying to change us, Gunn. We can't ever forget that."

"Pretty damn good party though. I'll see you tomorrow-well, today, but later. Oh, and your chair…" Gunn said.

"What?" Angel asked.

"Don't sit in it. I already called janitorial," Gunn said.

"You pissed in the big man's chair? That's fantastic!" Spike chimed in.

"Spike, can you please turn off that warm fuzzy?" Gunn said.

"What, the Lorne thing? Wore off. I just think that's bloody fabulous," Spike said.

Buffy walked into the office carrying a blanket. She was still in her dress and heels. Angel said, "All right guys, good night. Let Lorne get some sleep, all right?" When Spike didn't leave, Angel said to him, "Out."

"All right, just this once," Spike said. "See ya Buffy," he added with a nod to Buffy.

"Bye Spike," she said as she put the blanket over Lorne and tucked him in.

"Mmm," Lorne mumbled in his sleep. "I'm sorry."

"Hey, it's okay, Lorne," Angel said. "Just try and get some rest. Get some sleep."

"It's hard-it's hard. It's hard being the host of the party. Yeah," Lorne murmured.

"Stop trying to be," Angel said.

Buffy groaned and reached down to take off her heels. "Ughh, my feet are killing me," she said, bending over to massage one foot.

"Come on," Angel said, grabbing her hand and gesturing toward the elevator.

* * *

Once upstairs in Angel's penthouse, Buffy took off both her heels and tossed them aside. She sighed and looked at Angel. "Soo…" she started to say, a little awkwardly. "Great party," she added when Angel didn't say anything.

"Yeah," Angel said. "I'm still trying to…process it all."

"I know. If you-you know, need some space or something…I mean we don't have to rush into anything," Buffy said.

"No, no…I'm okay. I want to be with you," Angel said.

Buffy breathed a sigh of relief and said with a smile, "'Kay, good."

"It's just…all these years, Buffy," Angel said in exasperation.

"I know…" she said, stepping closer to him and sliding her arms around his waist. Angel leaned into her and rested his forehead on hers. Buffy suddenly started to giggle. The thing that had caused them so much torment, the thing that had broken them up, the thing they had been longing for so long now…it had been within their grasp their whole time. It was so beautifully tragic, the perfect cliché twist to their relationship that Buffy couldn't do anything but laugh at it.

"What?" Angel asked, smirking at her.

"This would happen to us, right?" Buffy said between giggles.

Angel joined in, chuckling and said, "Yeah, you're completely right."

After their laughter died down, Buffy brushed her lips against Angel's, gauging his reaction before going any further. Angel leaned down and kissed her a little more forcefully. After a few moments, Buffy broke off, gasping for air.

Foreheads still touching, Angel smirked at Buffy and said in a hoarse voice, "Why don't we, you know, do it without Lorne having to tell us to."

Buffy just laughed at him and let him guide her to the bedroom.

* * *

**Yup. It finally happened.**

**Please review!**

**-sailor's delight**


	8. The Cautionary Tale of Numero Cinco

**A/N: This length of time between updates is unacceptable! My apologies! Anyway, I'm pretty proud of this chapter - it's much shorter than previous ones and less about Angel and Wolfram & Hart and more about Buffy and Scoobies. I'm on break from school so _hopefully _I will be updating more. No promises though.**

******************Disclaimer: Anything recognizable from _Buffy the Vampire Slayer _and/or _Angel _belongs to the creators of the show and not me. I'm using the characters/ideas for fun and not for profit. The title _"Angels & Demons" _was inspired by the Dan Brown book. Lyrics belong to Jace Everett. A big thanks to the wonderful website www. twiztv .com for the transcripts.

* * *

**

**The Cautionary Tale of Numero Cinco**

_**Long way from home, can't sleep at night**_

_**Call on the telephone, that something don't seem right.**_

_**That's evil, evil is going on**_

_**I warnin' you brother**_

_**You better watch your happy home.**_

_**-Jace Everett**_

Buffy Summers was running. She could feel her lungs burning as she breathed harder and harder, running faster than she ever had through the forest. She dodged massive trees whose leaves far above her let the afternoon sun shine through in flashes as she ran along the dirt. Buffy stole a glance behind her. Her instincts were screaming at her to keep running; that something was following her. What that something was, she didn't know. But she just knew that it meant her harm.

Buffy suddenly came to an abrupt halt when she saw what was ahead of her. She held her breath for a moment, afraid to move. She stared into the menacing yellow eyes of a large grey wolf that stood about ten feet ahead of her. The wolf inched forward and gave a deep growl as it crouched slightly. The forest was so still and quiet it was surreal.

Buffy was still frozen in place, eyes locked with the wolf's when she heard a rustling to the animal's right. A few feet away from where the wolf stood, a large ram stepped out from behind a tree. Its massive horns curled around its head and came to a sharp point. It was almost twice as large as the wolf. It too had menacing yellow eyes and breathed heavy with a grunting noise.

Buffy started at them, confused. She then heard a voice from the grave.

"Buffy," came the soft voice from behind her.

Buffy choked on a cry as she turned and was face to face with her mother. "Mom?" Buffy asked, her voice shaking a little. Joyce Summers looked exactly as Buffy remembered her. She had a sad smile on her face. Buffy was so caught up in staring at her mother's face that she didn't notice what stood directly behind her. A large deer with large and elaborate antlers and the same yellow eyes as the wolf and the ram stood behind Joyce.

Buffy gasped and Joyce said, "Oh honey…I miss you."

"I miss you too Mom," Buffy said, feeling tears stinging her eyes. She suddenly felt an uncomfortable tingle as she realized she had her back turned to the wolf and the ram. "Come on, let's get out of here," Buffy said, pleading to her mother.

Joyce just shook her head at Buffy, still wearing the same sad smile. "No sweetie, you have to stay."

"Why?" Buffy asked.

"You need to see," Joyce said. An overwhelming sense of dread was building in Buffy's stomach.

"What-" Buffy started to ask, but she was cut off by a vicious snarl coming from behind her. The deer stepped out from behind Joyce and stood squarely between Buffy and her mother as the wolf and the ram lunged from behind Buffy and straight at her mother.

"Mom!" Buffy cried out. The deer continued to block her as the wolf and the ram pinned down her mother, attacking her. Buffy screamed.

Buffy awoke suddenly with a strangled cry and sat up in bed. Her face was slightly damp from sweating. She sat up in bed for a few moments, trying to get her bearings and calm her breathing down. She looked around and realized she was in Angel's bedroom. She ran her hand through her hair and tried to get the terrible images out of her head. She could still imagine the warm sunshine on her skin and smell the crisp earthy air of the forest.

A hand on her shoulder made her jump in fright. She turned around to see that Angel was now sitting up and looking at her concerned.

"You okay?" he asked.

Buffy, still breathing hard, nodded and said, "Bad...bad dream."

Angel looked at her for a moment before asking, "Do you want to talk about it?"

Buffy really didn't want to, but she had this nagging feeling that this was important. That it meant something. She got her breathing under control finally and started to retell the events of the dream. "I was in the woods somewhere…and my- my mom was there," her voice cracked a little on the word mom. "And then there were these...animals, and they-they…God, it was awful what they did to her, Angel," Buffy said. Buffy held her head in her hands, trying hard to convince herself that it was all just a dream. But it had seemed so real… "It felt like a warning. Like she or someone was trying to warn me about something…I don't know…" Buffy said.

Angel gently placed his hand on her back, trying to soothe her. He wanted to know more information about the dream, but didn't want to push her.

"What kind of animals?" he asked after a moment.

Buffy looked at him, a little confused and said, "Um, a wolf, and a sheep-ram thing and a…." It suddenly clicked in Buffy's mind why she had the dream. More like _who _made her have the dream. "That bitch…" Buffy muttered under her breath.

"What?" Angel asked, not having caught on yet.

"There was a wolf, and a ram, and a deer. A hart," Buffy said to him.

It finally clicked for Angel as well and he asked, "Wolfram and Hart? Why would they send you a dream?"

"Because she's playing with me…that little…" Buffy said. She got out of bed with an angry grunt and grabbed her phone out of her bag on the floor at the foot of the bed.

* * *

"Buffy, are you _sure_ it's her?" Angel called after his girlfriend.

It was the next morning and Buffy was walking briskly down the hallway at Wolfram and Hart.

"Who else would it be?" Buffy asked, without bothering to stop. Angel followed after her, dodging lawyers walking down the hallway to their offices.

Lorne came out of a nearby room and said cheerily, "Hey there blondie, why the rus-"

"Where's Eve?" Buffy asked him point blank.

"Uh, don't know. Haven't seen her yet," Lorne said, a little taken aback. Buffy walked past him and Lorne said to Angel, "What's with her aura today?"

Eve suddenly rounded a corner finding herself face to face with a very angry slayer. Buffy could have sworn she saw a moment of fear flicker across the woman's face. "You called?" Eve asked smoothly.

Buffy slammed Eve up against the hallway wall, startling a few people walking by. "Don't you _ever _pull something like that again!" Buffy said to her in a loud voice.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Eve said, he voice a little raspy since Buffy had her hand around her throat.

"You know exactly what I'm talking about!" Buffy said, emphasizing her anger by pressing even harder on Eve's windpipe.

"Okay, okay," Angel said, stepping between the two women and pulling Buffy back and placing a hand on her stomach to keep her from Eve.

Eve gave a small cough and massaged her throat with her hand. "I take it you didn't sleep well?" Eve asked.

Buffy tried to inch closer to Eve but Angel was still holding her back. "I don't remember reading anything in my contract about my mom popping up in freakish nightmares," Buffy said to Eve. "My own mother!" she added in a louder voice.

Angel looked to Eve and asked, "You did this?"

Eve glared at the both of them silently for a moment before saying, "Alright, it was a warning."

Buffy narrowed her eyes and asked, "For what, Eve?"

After a beat Eve said, "To not mess around with things that shouldn't be messed with." She nodded in Angel's direction.

"What, me?" Angel asked.

"Your soul," Eve clarified. She looked to Buffy again and said, "When your little witch friend found out that a new and improved version of Angel's curse was used back in Sunnydale, it wasn't just news to her. It was news to everyone, including the Senior Partners and they weren't too happy about it."

"But Willow didn't know. You said it yourself, none of us knew," Buffy said.

"I've also said that I do what the Senior Partners tell me to, I don't lunch with them," Eve said. "This was their idea."

"Well what do they want me to do?" Buffy asked angrily. "Get rid of Angel's soul? Because _that's _a brilliant idea!" Buffy said, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Look at the bigger picture, Buffy," Eve said. "You may be in control of your slayer school, but guess who's in control of you. They are. This was a warning and a test to see if you can handle working here. Guess you need to think about it more."

Angel had slacked his restrain on Buffy and she pushed past him, getting closer to Eve's face. "What're you gonna do, punish me?" Buffy asked.

Eve tried to keep her composure but it was clear that she was uncomfortable with an angry slayer this close to her. "I think you've learned your lesson. Don't come back until we call you."

Buffy started at Eve for a moment before glancing up at Angel and then back to Eve. "Fine," she said. Buffy turned and walked down the hallway, weaving in and out of the people that had accumulated there during the commotion.

With one last glance at Eve, Angel turned and followed Buffy. He caught her in the lobby as she was pressing the down button on the elevator. "Buffy, wait," he called to her.

Buffy turned to him and said, "Not now, Angel. I just can't be here right now." She looked tired, Angel noted. It was not a look he was used to seeing on her face. The elevator doors opened with a ding and Buffy grabbed Angel's hand with her own and gave it a squeeze. "I'll call you later, I promise."

"Okay," Angel said. Buffy let go of his hand and stepped into the elevator, keeping her eyes on the floor as the doors closed taking her down to the parking garage.

* * *

Buffy sat in her office back at the Slayer Academy. She was staring at a framed picture on her desk. She picked it up and ran her finger down the decorative frame. It was a picture of Joyce, with Buffy and Dawn on either side of her. It was taken shortly after they had moved to Sunnydale. Buffy remembered it was well over 100 degrees that day, and Joyce rounded up her daughters for an impromptu road trip to the Sea World in San Diego. Buffy remembers her mom dragging her and Dawn to the splash zone at the Shamu show so they could cool off. Buffy smiled at the memory. She looked at the three of them, clothes drenched and huge smiles on their faces, and remembers every detail. Buffy was pulled out of her thoughts by a small knock on the door.

Willow stepped in the office and said, "Hey, mind if I come in?"

Buffy nodded and put the picture back on her desk and said, "What's up?"

Willow hesitated for a moment and then said, "Um, I heard what happened... at Wolfram and Hart." Buffy looked at her with a confused expression on her face and Willow added, "Angel called. He seemed really worried. Are you okay?"

Buffy slowly shook her head, sighed and said, "I can't believe he told you."

"He's just worried, Buffy. You know how he gets," Willow said, sitting down in the chair in front of Buffy's desk. When Buffy didn't respond, Willow followed her gaze to the picture on her desk and said, "It's okay to have a weakness, Buffy. We all have them. You guys know how worked up I got over Tara." Buffy finally looked away from the picture and started at Willow. "Okay, so 'worked up' might be a bit of a major understatement, but…she was your mother. It's always going to be a tough thing for you. And that's okay. It makes us human."

Buffy gave Willow a small smile and said, "Thanks, Will." She leaned back in her chair and said, "I needed a break from that place anyway."

Willow still looked uneasy and said, "There's one more thing…Giles was with me when Angel called and he wants to talk to you about it. More of a meeting actually."

"Seriously?" Buffy asked, exasperated.

"'Essentials only' was the phrase he used. So only you, me, him and Xander have to know," Willow explained. "He wants to discuss where you go from here so something like this doesn't happen again. It's just not right to attack someone through their dreams."

"Tell me about it," Buffy agreed.

"The meeting's not until this afternoon, so just hang out till then. I'll fill everyone in so you don't have to," Willow said.

"Thanks, Will," Buffy said. Willow smiled at her before leaving her office. Although she hated just sitting there doing nothing, Buffy appreciated the break. It was nice to have someone else take care of things for once.

* * *

Buffy walked into the conference room upstairs to see Willow, Xander, and Giles already there. They greeted her and she sat down in one of the plush chairs. The group sat there in silence for a few moments before Buffy asked, "Why are we here, Giles?"

Giles, who was standing at the head of the conference table, took a deep breath before saying, "Because honestly Buffy, I'm worried. If the Senior Partners have gotten angry at this incident, which was something that was really none of our doing, who knows what they could do. Buffy, I feel that you're becoming more and more trapped by them every day."

"You don't think I already know this?" Buffy said. "I feel it every. Single. Day. It eats away at me! But what am I supposed to do, Giles? Stop working for them? Who knows what they'll do to all the slayers! Even if they didn't harm anyone it's still complicated."

"Because of Angel," Giles finished for her. Buffy just stared at him. Giles sighed again and said, "Buffy, I was concerned about you and Angel getting involved again when you started working for Wolfram and Hart…"

Buffy cut him off and said, "Don't bring him into this. Getting back together with Angel was completely separate from signing the contract with Wolfram and Hart."

"Separate?" Giles said, his voice rising. "Buffy, being with Angel just traps you even more there! You don't think they know that?"

"Of course I do!" Buffy retorted. "And it sucks! There's always _something _that makes it harder for us. But our personal lives and our work lives are separate. It won't be a problem."

Giles looked at her like he didn't believe her. Buffy wasn't even sure she believed herself. After a few tense moments Willow spoke up and asked, "I have a question." When no one stopped her she continued and said, "Why did they send Buffy the dream? I was the one that figured out the whole thing with Angel's soul, so why not me?"

Buffy had been wondering this too and offered Willow the only explanation she could think of. "You, me…Jenny Calendar…we're on the same side, so to the Senior Partners we're one entity, or whatever. And I guess I was the easiest target."

"Whatever the case, we need to triple check every decision we make. The Senior Partners clearly have no problem with reprimanding us for things that happened years ago by someone who is…no longer with us," Giles told the group. Buffy felt a stab of guilt at Giles' last words. It had been a long time since Miss Calendar was killed by Angelus but that didn't stop Buffy from feeling partly responsible. With that, Giles left the conference room and headed down the hallway.

"Great, just when I was getting used to watching my back around here. And I only have one eye to watch with!" Xander complained, trying to add some humor to the situation. "Think they monitor our cable?"

Buffy ignored him and turned to Willow and asked, "Think I made him mad?"

Willow sighed and said, "No Buffy, I think he's just scared. To be honest we all are. These Senior Partners are not something we want to mess with. But I know he understands that you're doing what's best for the slayers. Completely selfless. It's hard for anyone to ignore that."

Buffy nodded, stood up and said, "Well, I'm gonna go…" And without another word she left the conference room.

Willow and Xander looked at each other, both not believing this is what their lives have come to.

* * *

Later that night Buffy was in the silence and comfort of her own bedroom. She curled up in the plush comforter on her bed and dialed a now familiar number on her phone.

"Hello?" came Angel's slightly distracted voice from the other end.

Buffy smiled a little to herself. She could imagine him in sitting at his desk looking for something in the pile of legal paperwork in front of him or trying to figure out how to open his e-mail on his computer, moments away from making Harmony do it. "Hey, it's me," Buffy said to him.

"Hey," Angel said, his tone softer. "How are you doing?"

Buffy sighed and said, "Fine. Kind of took it easy today. Willow, Xander and I met with Giles to talk about it."

"And?" Angel asked.

"I think he's just upset at the situation we're in. Which is understandable. I feel like I'm running in the dark, praying I don't hit something," Buffy said.

"Well I'm running right next to you. Shoulder to shoulder, we're in this together, remember?" Angel said to her.

Buffy smiled to herself at his words. It was nice to know she would always have him as a rock. But she still had her worries. "I'm afraid I'm going drag you down into something you didn't sign up for if I piss off Big Brother anymore," Buffy said.

"Don't," Angel told her. "If it gets down to it, who do you think I'm going to go with, you or the Senior Partners?"

Buffy smiled again and said, "Alright, I get it. But don't be fooled if they woo you with gourmet dinner or something. You know I can't cook."

Angel chuckled and said, "It's not your cooking that I like about you."

Buffy smiled to herself and then asked, "So what are you up to?"

"A couple of bodies with hearts missing showed up not too long ago. About to go to this church where one of them was found after a special service. Seems demonic to me," Angel told her.

"Fun," she said. "I'd offer to help, but…"

"Yeah, it's okay," he told her. He looked up and saw Gunn, Wesley, and Spike gathered in the lobby with their jackets and a few weapons. "Sorry babe but I gotta get going, I'll talk to you soon, okay?"

"Yeah, good luck with your demon," Buffy responded.

"Thanks, bye," Angel said before hanging up the phone and leaving his office.

* * *

The next morning Buffy tentatively knocked on the doorframe to Giles' office. "Can I come in?" she asked.

Giles looked up from his paperwork and said, "Of course, Buffy."

Buffy sat in the chair in front of his desk and the two sat for a moment in tense silence. Finally Buffy said, "I'm sorry. About yesterday." Giles sighed and took off his glasses as Buffy continued. "I got a little worked up, but could you blame me? Anyway I've had a night to simmer down and I wanted to apologize. Things got a little out of hand for a bit there."

Giles looked at her and kindly said, "Apology accepted. I'm sorry as well. We were all a bit tense yesterday."

Buffy laughed and said, "A little?"

"Okay, very tense," Giles agreed with a smile. "But we're in a very unusual situation here, Buffy."

"Oh, you don't have to tell me twice," she said. "But I talked to Angel last night and I feel better about it. He was always a good confidence booster."

"I'm glad to hear it," Giles said with a smile.

"Well, I gotta run," Buffy said as she stood up. "I have a training session in a few minutes."

"Alright, I'll talk to you later, Buffy," Giles said, getting back to his paperwork.

"Thank you, Giles," Buffy said to him, leaning on the doorframe. She knew it was impossible to thank him for everything he's done for her in those few words, but she could sure try.

* * *

Buffy was at home in her condo cleaning up after dinner when there was a quiet knock at the door. Dawn had gone upstairs to do homework in her room so Buffy said, "Hang on" and quickly dried her hands on a dishtowel.

She opened the door to reveal a very broody looking Angel. "Hey," she said with a smile and moving aside to let him in.

"Hi," he said, shrugging off his coat and draping it over the back of the couch that was to the left of the front door in the living room.

Angel's silence prompted Buffy to say, "Did you get your demon?"

Angel nodded and said, "Yeah" before sitting down on the couch.

"Okay, then what's up?" Buffy asked, walking around to sit next to him on the couch.

"Nothing," Angel said.

Buffy fought the strong urge to roll her eyes and said, "Oh come on, you have major something-face. Spill."

Angel was silent for a few moments and Buffy noticed a muscle in his jaw twitch. "I told you about the Shanshu prophecy right?"

Buffy nodded and said, "Yeah." She remembered how her heart had leapt and imagination had run wild at the thought of Angel becoming human.

"Well I've been thinking a lot and…you know my reasons for taking this job. For Connor. It was all for Connor," Angel said. Buffy was quiet and let him finish. "Well, what if by doing that, it destroyed my chance at the prophecy. I mean CEO of Wolfram and Hart? How could I ever be rewarded for that? The place is nothing but evil."

Buffy turned on the couch so she was facing him and said gently, "But you're not. You're doing good things at Wolfram and Hart. And I know you took over for Connor, but you also took over to bring this place down." She finished in a whisper, almost as if she was afraid someone could overhear them.

"But Buffy, prophecies are tricky," Angel said, not convinced by her reasoning. "Is it worth it? What if it's not true?"

"What if it is?" Buffy said with a smile. "You told me once that we can't know anything and that's just the deal. If I've learned anything since then, it's just that. We can't be sure of anything but we can sure as hell try our hardest to do what's right."

Angel looked over at Buffy and felt his feelings for her swell along with his strength and motivation to go on. He placed his hand over her tiny one and said, "Thanks."

Buffy smiled at him and said, "Your welcome. Now come on, I think somebody needs a massage."

Angel laughed with her and let himself be led upstairs by his girlfriend.

* * *

**Please review!**


	9. Lineage

**********************Disclaimer: Anything recognizable from _Buffy the Vampire Slayer _and/or _Angel _belongs to the creators of the show and not me. I'm using the characters/ideas for fun and not for profit. The title _"Angels & Demons" _was inspired by the Dan Brown book. Lyrics belong to Sum 41. A big thanks to the wonderful website www. twiztv .com for the transcripts.

* * *

**

**Lineage**

_**I tried to be perfect**_

_**It just wasn't worth it**_

_**Nothing could ever be so wrong**_

_**It's hard to believe me**_

_**It never gets easy**_

_**I guess I knew that all along**_

_**If you believe it's in my soul**_

_**I'd say all the words that I know**_

_**Just to see if it would show**_

_**That I'm trying to let you know**_

_**That I'm better off on my own**_

**-Sum 41**

"She could have been killed," Angel said angrily, standing behind his desk staring at Wesley who was sitting in the chair across from Angel's desk. The night before the two of them had gone on a mission to infiltrate a weapons ring, but they were attacked by robots and Fred got caught in the crossfire.

"Medical's optimistic," Eve said from her spot next to Angel. "She should be up and about soon enough."

"That's not the point," Angel continued. "What the hell was Fred doing there in the first place?"

"I needed someone who could explain the weapon convincingly," Wesley said.

"Nobody else here knows how to explain a gun?" Angel asked.

"I needed someone who wouldn't arouse Emil's suspicion. Someone I could trust," Wesley said.

"And so conveniently, the only person who could go with you was Fred."

"What is that-"

"She shouldn't have been there," Angel interrupted. "It was a reckless decision."

"Fred has more than proven herself in the field. There was no reason to think-"

"We found her bleeding to death on the ground," Angel said, glaring at Wes. "From now on, you clear it with me before using any of my people."

"Your people?" Wesley asked.

"Got it?" Angel said to him. Wesley got up and left the office.

"Kinda hard on him, weren't you?" Eve asked once Wesley was gone.

"She could have-" Angel started to say.

"Been killed. So you said. I think you're making too big a deal about this. And from what I understand, her wound wasn't all that severe," Eve said.

"You weren't there. You didn't see her," Angel said.

"But she's okay," Eve said. "And you're still beating him up."

"He can be careless."

"Focuses too much on the big picture? Overlooks the people involved?" Eve asked.

"Something like that," Angel said.

"Willing to risk anything…or anyone…for the greater good," Eve continued. "Look, hey…I'm just asking. Could it be there's another reason you're getting so mad at him about this?" When Angel didn't respond she said, "Mmm…stealing your son, for instance?"

"We don't talk about my son," Angel said to her.

"You don't trust Wesley, do you? I mean, I can see that. He did turn Connor over to your sworn enemy," Eve said.

"He didn't mean for that to happen. He thought he was doing the right thing," Angel said.

"And I guess it all worked out. Connor's okay, you're happy. Maybe Wesley knew what he was doing after all. Even if he doesn't remember any of it," Eve said.

"That's got nothing to do with-" Angel started to say. He sighed and said, "I just want to be kept informed, that's all."

"Well then I should probably inform you that the Senior Partners are less than thrilled about your cyborg issue. No one knows where these things came from, and they don't like that. So I'm gonna call your girlfriend. Senior Partners want a little extra muscle on deck today," Eve said taking out her cell phone and leaving Angel's office.

Angel sighed and sat down behind his desk.

* * *

Across town, Buffy was spending the morning in the large training room at the Slayer Academy jotting down notes on a clipboard as she evaluated some of the new slayers sparring in front of her. Faith walked in carrying two cups of coffee and handed one to Buffy.

"Oh, thanks Faith," Buffy said, taking a sip from the cup.

"Did I miss anything good?" Faith asked, sipping from her own cup.

"Not much," Buffy told her in a quiet voice. "I think Alyce finally got the upper hand. She's really improving."

"Hm," Faith muttered. "Think she can handle more advanced classes?"

"Possibly," Buffy said as her cell phone started ringing in her pocket. "Hold this?" Buffy said, passing the clipboard to Faith. Buffy pulled out her phone and answered it.

"Hey Buffy, long time no talk," came Eve's voice through the phone. Buffy sighed and motioned to Faith that she would be outside.

Once in the hallway Buffy said, "What's up, Eve." She was not in the mood for small talk and wanted to get to the point.

"Angel, Wesley, and Fred were attacked by cyborgs last night while on a mission. It's got the Senior Partners a little worried and they want extra muscle at Wolfram and Hart for the day," Eve told her.

Buffy furrowed her brows, letting Eve's sentence sink in. "Cyborgs? Is everyone okay?" she asked.

"Mostly," Eve said.

"I thought you didn't want me around after our last encounter," Buffy said.

"I don't call the shots. The Senior Partners do. Get here as soon as you can," Eve told her.

Buffy sighed and hung up the phone.

* * *

Buffy walked into the lobby of Wolfram and Hart, looking around for Angel. Lorne spotted her getting off the elevator and called across the lobby.

"Morning sunshine!" Lorne said walking over to her.

"Hey Lorne, where is everyone?" Buffy asked him.

"Oh they're all in the lab with that Robocop from last night. Not really my thing," Lorne told her.

"Okay, I'll see you around, Lorne," Buffy said and started walking upstairs towards the lab.

"Oh I should probably warn you," Lorne said to her before she left. "Wesley's father is in town, decided to join the lab party."

"Wesley's father?" Buffy asked.

"Quite a fella," Lorne said.

"Great…" Buffy mumbled to herself before heading up the stairs.

* * *

Buffy entered the lab to see a ninja looking robot lying on a table. Angel was leaning over the thing, peering inside. He looked up at her when she walked in and gave her a smile. Buffy walked over to him and squeezed his hand in greeting.

"Morning Buffy, I was just about to explain what we found on this guy," Fred said to her.

Buffy glanced over the body as Fred said, "We found cybernetics throughout the body, in most cases replacing entire organic systems."

"Was it human?" Angel asked.

"We think so," Fred told him. "The nervous system seems human at least, but the rest of the technology is so foreign to us. We can't be sure of anything right now. This thing really blurs the line between human and robot."

Spike, who had been playing with a glass beaker on a shelf said, "Aha! So you're not ruling out that a human being could've boffed a robot. Sex with robots is more common than most people think."

"Spike. Really?" Buffy said, warning him with a disgusted look on her face.

Fred continued and said, "Um, the cybernetics require central processing to function, which means if we can crack its memory, we may find a record of everything it's done till this point."

"And maybe figure out who or what it wanted," Angel said.

There was the sound of breaking glass and everyone looked at Spike who had knocked the beaker off the shelf. "Hey! Did you-" he started to say. Off everyone's looks he held up his hands and said, "Sorry."

"Um, so far, we haven't had much luck decoding the encryption," Fred said.

"It seems to be a binary-based system, so we'll get there eventually. We just have to find the right transform variable," Knox said.

"Okay, I need you on this till we get some answers," Angel said.

"You got it," Fred said.

Eve said, "Let us know if you need more resources."

Wesley walked into the lab, followed by his father. Wes said, "Everyone, I'd like you to meet my father, Roger Wyndam-Price."

"Hello," Roger said to the group.

"Daddy, eh? I always thought Wesley was grown in some sort of greenhouse for dandies," Spike said.

"Spike," Roger said to him.

Spike grinned and asked, "You've heard of me?"

"No, we've met. 1963. My colleagues and I fell upon you slaughtering an orphanage in Vienna. Killed two of my men before you escaped," Roger told him.

"Oh…how've you been?" Spike said.

Angel stepped forward and said, "I didn't know your father was coming to visit, Wesley." He held out his hand and said, "I'm Angel. Pleasure to meet you."

Roger stared at Angel's outstretched hand and said, "Do you really expect me to shake that?"

"I'm not real comfortable with hugging. No. I realize this may be somewhat of a horror show to you. But I hope you can keep an open mind. We really are doing good work here."

"So I'm told. Incessantly, in fact," Roger said. He then spotted Buffy behind Angel and said, "And you must be Buffy Summers."

Buffy gave him and small smile and said, "Yeah, nice to meet you." She didn't bother to shake his hand.

"I never thought I would get to meet the slayer that gave us watchers the biggest headache ever recorded," Roger said to her.

Buffy tensed for a moment and clenched her fists. "Well, I'm not one to really go with the flow," she said after a beat.

"No, you really aren't," Roger said.

Wesley cleared his throat and said, "I heard we could be of some use."

"Of course," Fred said. "Um, we were just going over the autopsy."

"Fred, keep me posted," Angel said before grabbing Buffy's hand and leaving the lab with her. With one last glance at Wesley's father she followed Angel out.

* * *

Buffy had been in Angel's office with him when they got word that the explosive device in the cyborg had been triggered.

"What happened?" Angel asked Wesley and Fred.

Spike stepped up from behind them and said excitedly, "I can explain. Apparently, when Percy here was younger, he used to be known as 'head boy'."

"Yeah, I already knew that," Angel said.

"Right. I have nothing else to report," Spike said.

Wesley sighed and said, "I accidentally tripped the cyborg's self-destruct mechanism."

"Anyone could have made the mistake," Fred said. "Wesley was just trying to interpret some symbols for us."

"Luckily, my father was there to correct my error," Wesley said.

"Right, your father. Where is he anyway?" Angel asked.

Fred said, "Well, Lorne's keeping him entertained." She paused before continuing, "Come to think of it, that's probably not the best idea. I'll go rescue him." With that, she left the office.

"I'm finished here too," Spike said. "If you want, I can have someone type up the report about head boy."

"Get out," Angel told him.

"Suit yourself," Spike said before leaving the office.

"It was a stupid mistake," Wesley said.

"Your father's visit just rattled you," Buffy said to him gently, sitting on the edge of Angel's desk.

"I find it hard to think straight when he's around," Wesley said.

"Fathers. They can be torture sometimes," Buffy said with an understanding smile.

"Look, you should see this," Angel said handing Wesley a report. "Came from your department. Reports of assassins that sound a lot like our cyborg."

Wesley read from the report and said, "Hmm. Group of them took out a demon cabal in Jakarta. Another group destroyed the Tanmar Death Chamber. Sounds like they're doing our work for us."

"These are good guys?" Buffy asked.

"I don't know. I should reference this with the markings we found, find some clues as to their origin," Wesley said.

"Get on it," Angel told him. "If these guys are on our side, then somebody should tell them before they start trying to kill us again."

Wesley nodded and left the office with the report. Buffy watched him go and said to Angel, "Wesley's dad really doesn't like me," her eyes still of the door through which Wes just exited.

"Why do you say that?" Angel asked, looking over some papers on his desk.

Buffy looked to Angel incredulously and said, "Did you see the way he treated me? 'You gave us watchers the biggest headache ever recorded'," she said imitating Roger Wyndam-Price.

"Yeah well I think he's kind of an idiot," Angel said, still reading over some papers.

Buffy snapped her eyes to him and said in a surprised voice, "What?"

Angel sighed and looked up at her. "Times change. Believe me, I know. Things aren't the same as when the Watcher's Council formed thousands of years ago. All due respect to Wesley and his father, but he's foolish for thinking that system could go on forever." Angel paused and looked at Buffy who was looking down at her hands. Angel covered one of her tiny hands with his and said, "What you did was brilliant. Giles sees that, and if Roger can't then that's his loss."

Buffy smiled at her boyfriend, glad that he could always make her feel better when she was down. She was about to say thanks when the office suddenly lost power and an alarm blared.

Buffy and Angel walked into the lobby as an alarm sounded through the entire building.

"What's happening?" Angel asked Gunn who was in the lobby as well.

"We've lost power, communications," Gunn told him.

"All right, can somebody please shut off the-" Angel said as the alarm shut off. "That's better."

"Doesn't that mean we've lost security…" Buffy said.

Spike appeared suddenly in the lobby next to the elevator and said, "Uh, something's wrong with the elevator."

"Get security online," Angel said. "I need to know if this is a false alarm."

Suddenly cyborgs descended into the lobby, surrounding the group. "I'm thinking it's not a false alarm," Gunn said.

Angel, Buffy, and Gunn began fighting the cyborgs. Gunn was able to punch one out but another one attacked. Buffy saw that Gunn was struggling against a cyborg but was busy fighting off her own. They were putting up quite the fight and it was difficult to get the upper hand. A cyborg knocked Angel down, but Roger Wyndam-Price appeared and was able to knock the cyborg away from Angel with a chair. Roger offered Angel his hand to help him stand.

"Thanks," Angel said, getting up.

"Angel," Fred said. "Wesley's on the roof. He needs your help."

"Hey, Gunn," Angel said. "Go find out what's happening with security."

Buffy said, "Fred, there are people down, we should see who's injured."

"Good idea. I'll go find Wes," Angel said before walking away.

"I'm coming with you," Roger said, following Angel.

"Look, I don't have time-" Angel started to say.

"He's my son," Roger said.

"Oh, uh, Eve's stuck in the elevator," Spike added.

"So tell maintenance," Gunn said as everyone went their respective ways; Angel and Roger to the roof, Gunn to get security, and Fred and Buffy to assess injuries.

"Right. Well where the bloody hell is maint-" Spike started to say. He sighed and continued, "Oh, to be honest I don't even care."

* * *

Buffy helped a paramedic lift an employee on a stretcher as Fred was kneeling next to another employee, holding an ice pack to their head. "Wesley's dad picked a great day to visit, huh?" Buffy asked Fred.

"Yeah, poor guy," Fred said, glancing at Buffy who kneeled next to Fred, looking at the employee's head injury.

"Why'd he even visit anyway?" Buffy asked. "I don't really see Roger Wyndam-Price as the type to make the trek from the motherland to LA for some quality time with his son."

"Wesley said something about an evaluation. I guess the Watcher's Council is reforming," Fred said. She looked at Buffy and asked, "Wait, shouldn't you know that?"

Buffy just stared at Fred and said, "Yes. If that was actually happening…which it's not."

"Well then why…" Fred trailed off, puzzled.

Realization dawned on Buffy's face and she said, "Either Giles isn't telling me something or Wesley's father isn't here for the reason he says he is. Come on, let's go." Buffy got up and headed for the roof, followed by Fred.

When Buffy and Fred walked out onto the roof they saw Angel lying on the ground, clearly in discomfort and Wesley and Roger squared off with each other, guns drawn.

"Wesley!" Fred called.

"Fred…get out of here," Wesley said to her.

Buffy spotted Angel on the ground and ran over to him, kneeling by his side, followed closely by Fred. "What the hell is going on?" Buffy asked.

"You know what that vampire is and what he's done, and you follow him anyway?" Roger asked.

"Maybe I know what I'm doing," Wesley said. "Why can't you trust that?"

"You disgrace yourself with the Council, you join forces with him and that slayer, and you have the nerve to ask me why I can't trust you?" Roger asked.

"I've done everything you ever asked, and I've done it well," Wesley said.

"I asked for this, hmm? I wanted to be humiliated?" Roger said.

"No, I suppose I don't know what you really wanted," Wesley said, stepping closer to his father, gun still drawn. "You never had any use for me as a child, and you can't bear the thought of me as an adult. Tell me father, what is it that galls you so, that I was never as good at the job as you…or that I just might be better?"

"Oh yes, this is Los Angeles. We have to talk about our feelings. Then maybe we'll hug," Roger said.

"It's doubtful," Wesley told him as the sound of helicopters approaching got louder.

"Hand me that staff," Roger said. Buffy took her attention away from Angel to notice Wes was holding a small wooden staff that had a large crystal on top.

"No," Wesley told him.

"Now, don't make me shoot you," Roger said.

Wesley walked to the edge of the roof and said, "Go ahead."

"Do you know how powerful that thing is?" Roger said.

"I don't care," Wesley said.

"I will kill you for it. Please believe me." As Roger said this, the helicopter hovered over the roof, shining everyone in a bright light.

"Oh, I believe you. I was raised by you, after all," Wesley said. He held the staff over the edge of the roof and said, "But I drop this, the crystal shatters, and Angel is restored. So I reckon whether I live or die, your plan had failed."

"I see," Roger said. "Well then…maybe if it's someone you care about…" Roger grabbed Fred and pointed the gun at her head. Buffy stood up, about to step in and help when Wesley shot at his father. Buffy gasped and stepped back, staring at the scene in front of her. Wesley kept shooting at his father until his gun was empty. Roger fell to the ground and the helicopter left the area.

Wesley walked up to his father's body and stared at it. He then stumbled away, dropping his gun, and vomited behind a vent. Buffy and Fred watched him, concerned, until they heard a buzzing coming from Roger's body. They watched in disbelief as the image of Roger Wyndam-Price shimmered and dissolved into that of a cyborg.

* * *

Buffy walked into Angel's office with a glass of water. She sat on the arm of the couch next to Angel and handed him the glass. He was holding his stomach and still looked uncomfortable.

"How are you doing?" Buffy asked.

"Well, you know what the worst part about losing your free will is?" Angel said.

"Having no control over your body?" Buffy offered.

"Well, there's that and…you get really nauseous," Angel said.

Buffy frowned and said, "It should wear off soon, you just need some rest."

Wesley walked in the office and Angel asked him, "Any idea where these things came from? What they were trying to do with me?" Wesley shook his head and sat down on the couch next to Angel. "Great," Angel continued. "Like we don't have enough to worry about. Now the good guys may be after us too."

"We have to assume we crossed some powerful forces when we took over this company," Wesley said.

"They're all trying to bring us down," Angel said. "The perception is that we're weak."

"No, the perception is I'm weak," Wesley said. "That's why they went for me."

"They're wrong," Angel said. "You do what you have to do to protect the people around you. To do what you know is right, regardless of the cost. You know, I never really understood that. You're the guy who makes all the hard decisions, even if you have to make 'em alone."

"Right now I feel like the guy who shot his own father," Wesley said.

"Well, it was just a robot with a fancy glamour," Buffy said.

"That thing knew everything about me," Wesley said.

"You know, if they had access to the Watcher's Council's old files, they'd have your background information, character assessments…" Buffy said, trailing off.

"Psychological profiles," Wesley said. "Everything they'd need."

"Well, like I said…don't beat yourself up," Angel said. "Oh…you know…I killed my actual dad. It was one of the first things I did when I became a vampire."

Buffy grimaced and Wes just stared at Angel. "I hardly see how that's the same situation," he said.

Angel nodded and said, "Yeah, I didn't really think that one through. You should get some rest."

"So should you," Wesley said, standing up.

"Just where I was about to take him," Buffy said, helping Angel up off the couch. "Come on big guy," she said, leading him to the elevator.

Wesley walked into the lobby and saw Spike waiting for him.

"Heard what happened up top, offing your dad and all," Spike told him. "Don't know if you know this, but, uh…I killed my mum. Actually, I'd already killed her, and then she tried to shag me, so I had to-"

Wesley held up his hands, stopping Spike from continuing. "Thank you. I'm…very comforted. Right."

As Wesley walked off towards his office Spike said, "Just tryin' to help!" He then looked around the empty lobby and asked no one in particular, "Wonder if anyone got Eve?" He then shrugged and left the lobby.

* * *

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